Summer at the Weasley's
by NightIsBeautiful
Summary: "I really don't want to do this," I moaned in annoyance, voice muffled in Adrian's shirt. Marcus pulled me towards him and placed a hand under my chin, making me look at him. "Listen here princess, you do what Slytherins do best: lie." I turned to my red-headed adoptive family for the next couple weeks and sighed… This was going to be a long summer.
1. Chapter 1

I held onto Adrian' shirt, nails digging in the fabric of his dark cloak and head pressed against his chest. I heard him chuckle lowly. This was obviously amusing to him, as for me, I wanted to just die then and there. He wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed the top of my head. "I really don't want to do this," I said with annoyance, my voice muffled by his shirt. I felt his chest rise as he let out a long sigh.

"I'm sure you can make it," he reassured me.

"I highly doubt it, suicide seems like a good option at the moment," I answered casually, pushing away from him with both my hands on his chest whilst his were still on my waist. He gave me that sexy smirk of his, the one that got all the Slytherin girls going insane. He was a playboy and he knew it.

"Suicide huh? Well don't do that!" he pulled me closer and kissed my cheek. "I'd be all alone without you." I laughed and pulled away once more, giving him one of those 'really?' looks. It took everything I had to refrain myself from reminding him of all the times I had caught him snogging a random Slytherin girl in the common room but instead I turned away from him to face my potential next saviour.

"Can't I just come to your place?" I asked Marcus with a pleading look. He turned away from the rest of the Slytherin Quidditch team and smirked. Gosh, he really needed to do something about those teeth.

"I'd be my pleasure princess but I'm going to Greece with my parents this year," he answered, placing a hand under my chin. I pouted like a child whilst the team chuckled behind us.

"I can't do this Marcus, not for an entire summer..."

"Listen here princess, you do what Slytherins do best: lie."

"Thanks for the advice," I rolled my eyes and pulled away from his touch. Adrian grabbed both my shoulders and turned me around so I was facing the entirety of platform nine and three quarters, him standing behind me. I spotted my adoptive family in the background, greeting their kids as they each got of the train. I sighed as the mother, a rather plump woman, caught my gaze and waved energetically towards me. I forced a smile to creep onto my features as to tell her I had noticed and turned my head back towards the team. Adrian smiled and pushed me forward slightly and whispered, "Smile and wave princess, smile and wave."

"You're all assholes."

"Be good love," I heard Marcus say as I walked away from them. Me, good? Highly unlikely.

* * *

 _"Hailey, will you be cheering us on in the next game? It's the last one of the year." Terence asked so quickly I could almost see the stars in his eyes. I munched on a piece of toast and smiled._

 _"Sure thing, you guys wouldn't be able to win without me cheering you on!"_

 _"You're not as important as you think," Theodore mumbled next to me. I turned to him for a second and weighed my options: react in an exaggerated_ _  
_ _manner or ignore him completely. I turned back to Terence and smiled brightly._

 _"I really hope you guys will kick Wood's as this time!"_

 _"Yes, he deserves to be put back in his place doesn't he?" Marcus appeared behind me and forced Theodore to move away so he could sit. I turned to him and nodded. Yes, he did deserve it. Oliver wood was hot, and cocky, a lot like Adrian now that I think about it. The only difference is that Wood is in Gryffindor, which means he is my natural enemy, unlike Adrian which I am supposed to love. Not that I don't, but he can get on your nerves. Someone kissed my cheek suddenly making me jump._

 _"Hello princess," Adrian smirked as he was leaning over the table. He pulled back to sit on the bench and winked. Speak of the devil... "How are you today?"_

 _"Good I suppose, can't wait to finally be on vacation!" I cheered. This year, my parents had promised to take me to Bulgaria to see dragons. I didn't know how they managed that, or who they knew that might have gotten us the chance to go see these dragons but I made a mental note to thank them later. Without realising it, I was shivering and smiling of excitement in my seat, with my fellow Slytherins giving me looks of pure confusion. In my though process, I didn't even notice the mail coming in and dropping in the empty plates before us. It was only when Adrian waved the later in front of my eyes that I snapped back to reality._

 _"Earth to Hailey," Adrian said in a rather monotoned voice, still waving the brown letter in front of my eyes. I snatched it from his hands and ripped the enveloppe open. "No worries folks, she's back!" Adrian said to no one in particular. It was then, that my dreams of a perfect vacation were completely shattered:_

 ** _Dear Hailey,_**

 ** _We will not be able to care for you this summer due to an unexpected invitation from our minister of magic. You will thus be spending the summer with some of our dearest friends, the Weasleys._**

 ** _Much love, mother and father._**

 _"Dearest... friends...?" I repeated lowly, Marcus giving me a questioning look. I dropped the letter, my mind blank. Across the great hall I spotted two similar redheads looking in my direction, a letter in their hands. My guess was that their parents also gave them the 'happy' news. As we looked at one another I understood: they were as mortified as I was._

* * *

As I walked slowly towards what I could only describe as my worst nightmare, I could only think of how much I wanted this 'summer vacation' to just be over. I was roughly pushed forward when two particularly annoying red heads came to walk rather closely next to me, trapping me in between them. I sighed and did my best to contain myself and not be mean.

"Just so you know," one of them said.

"We're totally against your presence in our house," the other finished the sentence. I looked up to glare at one of them then the other, realising that they were both a good head taller than me, and that I had no idea which one was which. I wondered how their mother managed to tell them appart.

"Then that makes two of us," I answered on a low tone.

We all glared at one another one last time before turning to their parents's and giving them our biggest -and most fake- smiles.

Here started the nightmare...


	2. Chapter 2

"Thank you so much for allowing me to stay here Mr. and Mrs. Weasley," I smiled in the most angelic way possible as Molly Weasley opened the door to her house and invited me in. The Weasley's lived in a house in Devon, which they called the Burrow. If Draco Malfoy was standing here instead of me, I'm sure he would say something along the lines of: ' _The Weasley's have so many children that they can't even afford a real house.'_ Personally, I thought it was rather nice, at least it had a story and a personality to it, unlike our house which was empty 10 months a year due to my parents usual travelling and me being in Hogwarts.

"Oh it's no trouble at all dear!" she replied casually, pushing me inside as I was a little reluctant to actually enter. I could feel the twin's glare on my back, which I helplessly tried to ignore. "Welcome to our humble abode, please, make yourself at home!" Mrs. Weasley encouraged me to take of my cloak. I did so and handed it to her in the most polite way I could, using my talents as a good manipulator to seem like the perfect little angel. The last thing I needed was for Mrs. and Mr. Weasley to know that I had no wish to be here whatsoever.

"George, help Hailey with her suitcase will you!" Mr. Weasley gave his son a good hit on his back, pushing him forward. George was about to protest when I turned around and smiled innocently.

"Thank you George, I would have _never_ been able to carry it up those stairs!" George glared at me and grabbed one end of the large trunk that was my suitcase, Fred grabbing the other end as they both began ascending the stairs. I was being mean, throwing the anger and frustration I held for my parents onto the twins which were victims of this whole situation as much as I was, but I couldn't help it. I had to blame somebody, and it was easier this way.

"You'll be sleeping in Ginny's room, is that alright with you?" Molly asked.

"Alright?" I hurried to Ginny and grabbed her hands, locking my eyes into hers. "I can't wait to be able to know all about you Ginny!" Truth was, I couldn't care less, as for Ginny; she looked more bothered then anything. She faked a smile and proposed to show me our room as I followed her quickly.

* * *

"This is it," she said slowly. Her room was rather small, but well organized. It contained an old metallic bed in a corner and a desk in the opposite corner. Next to the door was a small recess in the wall where a wooden wardrobe had been placed. There was a green carpet on the floor with a mattress placed next to the desk. It was a fine room actually; there was absolutely nothing wrong with it.

"How nice," I said truthfully, although from the reaction of Ginny I guessed she was taking it as an insult. I stepped in only to see Fred and George huddled near the wardrobe, sitting on my trunk. I looked at them and crossed my arms over my chest. "Get off."

"What if we refuse?" George, or Fred, asked. I seriously could not tell them apart.

"I'll cry to your mother," I responded boringly. Fred, or George, stood and walked over to me, leaning over so his face was directly in front of mine.  
"Nobody likes a tattletale Hailey."

"I honestly couldn't care less."

"Well, you're a bore," the other answered, also standing. They both walked towards the door and stopped near Ginny. "Scream if she's mean to you, we'll be right over."

"Yeah and don't worry," Fred, or George – once again, can't tell them apart—"She looks like a troll but I'm sure there's some good in her." I simply answered by pulling my tongue out at them like a five year old. God how pathetic am I?

* * *

I sat on my bed, well mattress really, once the twins had left and sighed loudly. Ginny walked around the room, pushing my trunk to the side so she could open her wardrobe and picked a book out of it. She then walked back over to her bed and sat with her back against the wall, and began reading – Or rather, pretended to read.

"Aren't Gryffindor's supposed to be brave or something?" I asked suddenly, making Ginny jump slightly. "You've been looking at me like a scared puppy since I stepped foot in this house." I kept my eyes onto her form but got no response whatsoever. She wouldn't even look at me!  
"You know," I lay down, placing my hands behind my head and sighting. "I hate being here as much as you hate me being here…"

Silence. Geez, this girl was going to be hard to tolerate for a whole vacation; and I'm supposed to be the big bad Slytherin!

Why would my parents force me to be here, they knew Slytherins and Gryffindor's did not get along! It was already hard enough for me, a Slytherin with parents whom had been in Gryffindor to make friends in my own house, but if they forced me onto the 'enemy' then what was I supposed to do? Clearly they wanted to destroy my social life. I mean, I have nothing in common with these people: no friends, no decent memories or any good moments to remember. Sure, I had a couple classes with Fred and George but I mean, I never talked to them unless absolutely needed.

"I just want this vacation to be over," Ginny pulled me out of my train of thoughts. I opened my eyes, which I hadn't realized I'd close and turned my head to see the redhead looking at me with a particularly saddened expression. I sighed and turned back to face the ceiling.

"I guess with have something in common after all…"

* * *

After what seemed like hours of doing absolutely nothing, during which Ginny had declared preferring to read downstairs, I decided to stand and walk around. I first changed into a more comfortable outfit, which mainly meant I wore a pair of jeans and a simple black shirt, before walking down the stairs to the living room. Fred and George – thank god they were together—were apparently teasing their younger brother, Ron I believe about something I didn't really care about whilst Ginny was lounging on a lone chair, feet dangling over one of the armrests. The noises stopped when I walked in, and all gazes were on me. I just pretended not to notice and stepped into the kitchen where Mrs. Weasley was preparing dinner.

"It smells really good Mrs. Weasley!" I complimented her.

"Thank you dear, but you can call me Molly!"

I smiled in response and looked around the kitchen. There was a table in the center of the room with enough chairs for the entire family, plus two others. How many kids did these people have?

"Can I help?" I asked suddenly, turning back to Molly.

"Oh you don't have to dear!"

"But I want to!" I simply stated, smiling. Molly seemed to think it through for a second before she smiled.

"Well alright, could you help me set the table darling? The plates are in this cupboard and the cutlery is in here. Feel free to look around!" She explained while pointing to various cupboards and drawers. I nodded quickly.

"Sure thing!" I smiled and began grabbing the plates and cutlery. I set everything down on the table nicely. I added glasses in front of each plate a filled a bottle with tap water to place it in the center of the table. I made sure to be calm and thorough as I worked. I had nothing against Molly, and I really had to thank her for letting me stay here so this was – I hoped— a good start.

I continued to chat with Molly as she finished preparing the supper. From what I gathered within the few moments I spent with her, she was a very nice woman whom loved her children more than anything in the world. The Weasley family was a lot bigger than what I thought; Arthur and Molly had seven children, Ginny being the only girl of the entire family. That must be hard for her, especially with brothers like Fred and George whom could be… how to say this, **obnoxious**.

Molly called her children to the table and I took in a deep breath, preparing for what was coming next: having to spend an entire meal with people who didn't particularly hold me in their hearts didn't sound very fun.

I ended up sitting in front of the twins, between their brother Percy and Ginny. I guess it could have been worse.

"So Hailey, You're in same year as Fred and George aren't you?" Arthur tried to start a conversation. I swallowed what I had in my mouth before answering with a small smile.

"Uhm, that's right."

"So you three already know one another," Mrs Weasley seemed to be over excited by that fact. One of the twins quickly chimed in,  
"We haven't really talked this year, we were mostly with Lee and the other Gryffindors."

"Oh, well, there's a first time for everything I suppose," Molly smiled brightly. None of us answered, pretending to be preoccupied by our meals instead. Percy was next to speak, voice calm and clear, without any sort of emotion whatsoever:

"Wait, you're a Slytherin?"

"Uhm, yeah," I turned to look at him. He looked into my eyes, almost as if he was trying to read me then frowned.

"Weren't your parents in Gryffindor though Hailey?" Percy said, turning back to his father for confirmation.

"Ah yes, both of them were wonderful Gryffindors, good-hearted and hard working!" Arthur looked up, reminiscing memories of his younger years. Fred/ George – why do I even bother trying—mumbled something to his brother before they both began snickering. I bit my lower lip, trying to ignore them but ending up kicking one of them under the table making them both glare. I answered with a smile before Percy spoke up again.

"Wasn't it hard for you? I know Slytherins aren't the kind to welcome strangers with open arms."

I nodded, "It was a little difficult at first I guess," I bit my lower lip.

"Well at least now you seem to have friends," Percy smiled. "I see you hanging out with the Quidditch team a lot, are you a member?" I stayed silent but wondered silent about what Percy just had said. Was he stalking me or something? I've never talked to him before… At least, I don't think I did.

"Uhm no, I never really liked Quidditch," I lied. Percy nodded and turned back to his nearly empty plate; he was seemingly satisfied with my answer.

* * *

Finally this never-ending day was over. I was thinking about the fact that it hadn't been as horrible as I thought it would. I guess I could try to be nicer to them; I even considered trying to befriend them… until I opened my trunk. A large, clown like figure hopped out of it and leaped onto me, making me scream helplessly and fall backwards onto my bottom. The jack-in-the-box disappeared quickly after its job was done and I heard two rather loud laughs coming from the door.

I panted hard, trying to calm my breathing as the twins mocked me from the door. At loss of words, or any other option in my behavior, I grabbed the first item I could – which happened to be a book—and threw it at them vigorously.  
Fred/George caught it easily, trying his best to calm his laughter.

"Welcome to the Wealsey's hailey!"

"Hope you're ready for a _long_ summer!"

I take it back… I hate the Weasley's.


	3. Chapter 3

I was shaken awake the next morning only to see two red-headed look alike with devilish grins on their faces. To be honest, I nearly screamed, but they both placed their hands on my mouth so quickly I wasn't even able to let out a sound. I calmed myself, slowly waking up from my slumber and frowned at my attackers whom were both sitting by my side, towering over me. Slowly, they removed their hands only to let me whisper in a rather annoyed tone: "What the hell is wrong with you?" The both smiled in return and completely dismissed my question.

"Time to wake up Slytherin Princess, you're spending an entire day with us!" One of the two cheered in a hushed tone. I raised a brow and feigned being excited:

"Oh yay."

I looked around the room, only to see that Ginny was still asleep and thanked my brain for whispering instead of just yelling at the two. The pair got up, one of them offering me a hand to stand. I pushed it away quickly and rose to my feet on my own. "Why do you even want to spend a day with me? Have you got some horrible prank set for me?"

"You don't trust us?" One of them faked being hurt while I walked over to my trunk and picked some clean clothes out of it. Turning back to face them I smiled annoyingly.

"Uhm, let's see... No."

"Well love, we're doing it because our mother asked us to, and like you we don't want to disappoint her by telling her we want to kick the pretty little Slytherin out the window," the answer answered on a much more aggressive tone. I smirked internally. I had never seen the twins be angry or mean with anyone, they were usually the pranksters of the class and yeah, incidentally got in a lot of trouble, but they were rather polite to others. I wondered if there was a way to get them angry, and so, it became my mission for the day. I am going to press their buttons 'til they beg their mom to get me out.

Unfortunately, I was guessing that was their plan too; be insufferable so that I'd crack. Well then boys, who was going to tell the truth to Molly and Arthur Weasley first I wonder?

"Fine," I finally agreed, crossing my arms in front of my chest and looking at them.

"Really? It's that easy?"

"Well this is beneficial for the both of us, so yeah. I'm going to spend an entire day doing whatever you want, but in exchange, we'll do whatever I want tomorrow," I proposed. They turned to face one another, obviously thinking it through. It was a bold claim, I was aware of that but I was a Slytherin, and I was good at bargaining and getting people to end up doing what I wanted.

"Alright, it's a deal."

I smiled like a five year old and squeaked, making both of them jump. "Great! I'm going to take a shower, see you downstairs!" I winked as so walked past them and into the closest bathroom. Before I closed the door however I heard the both of them talking:

"So, is this like a competition now George?"

"Yes, and we're definitely going to win Fred!"

Uh, their voices were slightly different; I'll make a mental note of that.

* * *

"How marvelous!" Molly cheered at the fact that Fred, George and Myself seemed to now be a trio. Truth was that all three members of this band were completely against the idea of a 'trio'. We basically just smiled and nodded at anything she'd say, trying to get away from this overly annoying conversation. "What have you planned for Hailey today boys?"

"Well George thought we could show her around this morning," Fred explained, taking a big bite out of his omelet.

"You know, just show her around the property! Get some fresh air," George finished for his brother before also stuffing his face with the –delicious – breakfast that Molly had prepared for us. I just stared at them for a second, expression a mix of confusion and disgust. How could two almost normal beings – with decent looks—be so … I'll need to finish this sentence later.

A loud bang made me jump from my seat before turning to the window where the noise came from. Out of nowhere, an owl jumped up and landed on the windowsill groggily. I just stared at it for a second; did this owl just land into the wall?

"What an idiotic bird," Fred sighed as if this was a normal thing. Molly rushed over to the owl to get the mail and I took this opportunity to snicker and give a proud grin to the boys.

"Just like its owners I suppose…"

"Were you proud of that insult love?" George asked. I took a bite of my omelet and nodded vigorously like a three year old whom had just met Santa Claus. Seconds later, another owl flew in the window and landed gracefully beside me.

"And that's how it's done boys," I pointed to my black companion.

Shiff, was a midnight colored owl with bright yellow eyes. My parents had offered her to me on the first day of school and we immediately clicked. This bird was so magnificent, both in flight and beauty. It had a way of staring into your soul with those big round eyes. I couldn't resist her, she was just the best owl in the world. Shiff leaned over and gently placed a letter in front of my plate. Fred and George both stared at the bird in awe, making me smirk. After a brief 'thank you' – which was a small piece of my meal— the bird spread it's wings and flew back out, almost mocking the Weasley's owl on its way. The latter turned to follow, but Molly still holding the bird, he didn't go very far after spreading its wings.

I hurried a hand onto my mouth as not to laugh, but it was quite hard to contain. Fred and George resorted to both looking down into their empty plates. Anything was better than watching this chicken try to fly.

Slowly, I opened the letter. To be honest, I expected it to be from my parents and I could not say that I was that excited. Fortunately, that was not the case:

 **Hello Princess,**  
 **You surviving? Say while you're in there, try and get some of the Grinffindor's Quidditch strategies. You'd be the best.**  
 **Love, Marcus Flint.**

I rolled my eyes. I guess it's slightly better than a letter from my parents but Marcus's politeness was to be desired. That boy –well man really—had a way with subtlety didn't he? It actually made me laugh for a second. Well, I guess I could make myself useful for our team. I quickly folded the letter and placed it in my back pocket. It wouldn't be too bad seeing the Gryffindor's lose another Quidditch match and not only because of their captain Oliver Wood's incredibly pathetic reactions. I mean, the guy tried to drown himself in a shower once. I should probably send an answer to Marcus at some point, but somehow I felt like I would not have the time today.

I looked back up to the twins and smiled innocently although I doubted they saw me as such. "Are you ready to have some fun?"

"Thought you'd never ask!"

* * *

"So you live in the middle of nowhere! That's nice…" I commented as we walked on a dirt road in between two fields. I was walking behind the pair, sighing every couple of steps and checking my surroundings for any traps they might have arranged.

"Of course not, there's a pretty cool forest up ahead," one said and even though I could see his face, I was guessing he was harboring an excited smile.

"So like I said, the middle of nowhere."

"We're sorry if this is an inconvenience to you _Princess_ ," the other said rather harshly. I stopped and looked at him innocently.

"You're the inconvenience."

To be honest, he looked rather pissed off and I was sure I had a proud smirk on my face; much like the ones Draco sends me whenever he succeeds at something I've failed in the past. That kid needs so much recognition…

"Let it go Georgie, she's toying with us," Fred said, placing a hand onto his brother's arm. George ignored him and stepped in front of me, leaning down to reach my level until his face was mere inches from mine.

"You think you're going to break us with mere insults?" the disdain rolled off his tongue. I breathed slowly and looked into his eyes. How could these two turn the tables on me so easily every time?

"You," I began, searching for a snappy comeback – which never came—"Are _way_ too close to me."

"Hm?" A wide smile spread upon his features, all anger vanishing within a second. It was like he had just taken off a mask, like he was a total different person now. Had he been pretending to be upset? Why bother? Did he want to know how I'd react? Gosh these guys are hard to 're so... unpredictable! I can never tell what they're thinking! Are they trying to mess with my head or something? I can't lose to them! I won't lose to them.

"Back off," I pushed him away whilst stepping back. George raised a brow before looking back at Fred. They seemed to be speaking to one another just by stares, which was both rather impressive and very disturbing.

"Would you like us to show you the forest Hailey?" Fred asked nicely, completely ignoring the exchange that had just taken place. I wondered whether a cold stare was answer enough but fearing that these people were idiots I added words to the look of death:

"Not really…"

"Ah, but you don't have a choice, you have to do whatever we say!" Fred smiled wickedly. Ah yes, our idiotic and childish bet. I sighed and followed them silently as we all took off again, me trailing behind them, each step heavier than the last. Boy does time fly when you're having fun... That saying probably explains why this seems to be so damn everlasting!

* * *

"So uhm," I began uneasily. Fred and George had showed me around the entire neighborhood, and although most of it was just fields I guess it was okay? We were now walking back to their house for lunch and there was an oppressing silent floating over us. "How…" I thought of something to say, as the words I had pronounced had simply slipped out of my mouth without any particular purpose. It's almost like my brain was telling me: ' _Here's an easy start, say something clever_!' "How do I tell you both apart?" I mentally slapped myself. That was so lame.

"You don't know?" One of them asked, clearly amused at the idiocy of my own question. My answer was simply to remove that infuriating grin of his face:

"Well no. Honestly to me you're just idiotic red-heads with no accomplishments, so why would I ever need to tell you apart?"

"Then why did you ask?"

Idiot… Well I was simply stupid. My attempt at starting some sort of normal conversation had completely backfired making me look like a fool. And as if that wasn't enough, I was certain they had planned some sort of horrible trick for me later on during the day. I sighed and decided to be truthful.

"My brain hurts when I look at you two. You're two identical copies of one another."

"Spend some more time with us and you might just figure it out!"

"Your mother has known you since your birth and even _she_ gets confused. I really don't want to spend my life with you two to be able to tell you apart." I answered rather quickly. The twins turned around to face me and we all stopped walking.

"You really don't like us do you?"

Well I wasn't expecting that. What do I answer to that? They haven't done anything bad to me per say, and I guess the time I spent with them this morning was okay but, I'm a Slytherin. They're Grinffindors. We aren't friends. They're annoying pranksters and they're just trying to get to me so that I'll let my guard down! Yeah that's it, did you really think I was going to fall for it?

"No."

"Why?"

I fell silent. Why? Well… Why would I need to explain myself to you?

"Just leave me alone…" And with that I pushed past them and hurried back to the house.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed! This chapter is dedicated to you!**

* * *

Today was supposed to be a good day, the day where the twins would have to do anything I say and go wherever I wanted. Yes, today was definitely a good day. I felt a little angry with myself that I hadn't come up with anything horrifying for them but I guess I could use my wits to cook up something while I showered.

I jumped out of bed with a smile on my face, which somehow made Ginny a little more uncomfortable than usual for she didn't go through with our normal morning ritual that primarily consisted of me staring at her and her ignoring me. Instead this morning, she spoke to me:

"You look like you're in a good mood."

"Oh you have no idea!" I simply answered, grabbing my necessities and stepping out of the room towards the nearest bathroom. It felt strange in a way, talking to Ginny like she was my eldest friend, even if it only was a couple words. I guess the younger Weasley and I could have been friends, _if_ she was a Slytherin… and if she wasn't a Weasley. Noticing that I sounded a lot like that pissy brat Draco I shook my head to clear my mind. I had more important things to think about: making Fred and George miserable for an entire day. Gosh, it almost felt like Christmas!

I showered rather quickly, my thoughts rumbling about, trying to find the perfect punishment for the twins, a way to get back at them for all the trouble they put people through. The more I think about it, the less I understand why people love them so much, they get everyone into trouble and whether they notice or not, their actions cause pain and suffering to others. They're childish, egotistical hypocrites who care for nothing but their own pleasure. They live in their own world, they connect to nothing, and yet people love them. What for? Their looks, sure they're both quite handsome but that won't do you any good in a fight, you just might end up loosing the most. I had to make them pay, for everyone they ever tormented… for _me_.

A rather harsh and hurried knock got me out of my thinking as I wrapped myself in a towel and turned to the door. I opened it slightly, only to reveal my head holding a curious expression. "Can I help you?" I addressed the mystery twin.

"Are you almost done? We need to shower too you know!" the twin sighed in exasperation. I was pretty sure it was George, at least that's how my mind registered him. Besides, did it really matter if I was wrong? They were practically the same person anyway! My mind suddenly twitched in excitement: _You need to shower do you? It would be very annoying if you couldn't wouldn't it?_

"Uhm, no actually. I'm just getting started," I smiled, coating my voice with sweet innocence.

"I just heard you turn the water off, and you hair is all wet," George pointed to me with a stern look. I fainted surprise.

"You must be mistaken, I haven't done anything yet!" I raised my eyes to the ceiling. "I still have to wash up, do my hair, my makeup, make sure my skin isn't too dry, apply lotion if it is..." I rambled before being cut off.

"Just stop it! You're not the only person in this house that needs to shower!" he was getting angry. I smiled sheepishly. _Oh sweet torture_ … I looked around, almost letting the silence sink in before breaking it.

"You're right," I conceded. "Although… I am the one in occupying the bathroom at this moment, so I guess that means I've got dibs."

"Hailey enough alright!" George pushed against the door. I pressed my entire body against it as well, using my weight to balance George's force.

"Hey! Ever heard of 'privacy'? Stop it! I'm not finished!" I whined, my voice reaching a higher pitch each word. I was wondering if I could make him snap, like actually snap. I did, and I quickly regretted it.

"Darn it Hailey! The world doesn't revolve around you! You're just a pathetic excuse for a wizard you slimy Slytherin!" George yelled suddenly. Everything stopped just then. We both stopped pushing against the door, I stopped breathing and my mind went blank. I just did the only thing I could do, stare at him, mouth agape, holding back the tears that threatened to flow. I can handle insults and sarcasm, because it's all a joke to me, but this, this came from the very bottom of him heart, and it hit me with brutal force.

"GEORGE! GET DOWN HERE NOW!" I clearly recognized Molly's voice. George didn't bulge though; he just kept glaring, almost waiting for me to crumble to pieces before him. I could feel the lump in my throat and closed my eyes for a moment.

"Slimy Slytherin? Is that the best you could come up with?" Fred's voice suddenly made it's way to my ears. My eyes fluttered open and turned to his form. George sighed and angrily.

"Oh shut it!" He swarmed off. I waited, eyes glued to Fred as I heard George screaming downstairs. Each of his words stung me deeply, and I couldn't do anything but listen, watching Fred with a blank gaze.

"I DIDN'T WANT HER TO COME! NONE OF US DID! AND SHE DOESN'T WANT TO BE HERE! FACE IT MOM WE WILL NEVER BE FRIENDS!"

A single tear rolled down my cheek as I actually began looking into Fred's eyes. He looked worried, sad, confused and just overly annoyed. I wasn't sure. What I did know was that he would protect his brother, no matter what, so I readied myself for a second round of insults. All I got was a:

"Come on now, Slytherins don't cry Hailey, make an effort."

He walked past the bathroom and down the stairs. I closed the bathroom door and rested my back against it, sliding along until my bottom reached the ground. I sighed and rubbed my now swollen eyes. What do I do now? Hate them, or hate myself?

When I finished showering, I hurried back to my room – well Ginny's room really. I didn't feel like talking to anyone, or doing anything for that matter. My hopes for this day had been crushed in an instant and now I just wanted to sit here and do nothing. I wasn't sad, or hurt or whatever – well I guess I was a little hurt—but I was in shock.

"Hailey, you ok?" I heard Ginny's voice next to me. I turned to look at her; she was sitting on the edge of her bed, looking at me with worry, or was it pity. I analyzed her quickly; did she know she was pretty? All the Slytherin guys said so anyway, even though she was in Gryffindor.

"You care now?" I shot back carelessly. I shouldn't have spoken like that, it wasn't her fault really but George got me into bitch mode, and Marcus wasn't there to get me out of it so who knows how long this could last.

"Well I… Ah never mind," she looked bothered. She stood up and brushed herself off then began walking to the door. She stopped in the doorway, back facing me and I waited for her to say something. "He shouldn't have said it. I was mean."

"But true?" I simply admitted, although it did sound awfully like a question. Ginny said nothing, but she didn't move either. I sighed exasperatedly. "Well, I guess it doesn't matter then."

I saw her nod slightly before she disappeared in the hallway. I rested back onto my bed, arms crossed under my head and looked at the ceiling. There was a large, clearly visible stain on it, probably because of mold or water. These people really had nothing did they? Old books, old robes, an old fucking house and no decent neighbors – The Lovegood are insane, so I'm not even counting them as neighbors. And yet, there family was more united than mine ever was, same goes for Draco I guess. We live in big mansions and have a lot of room, so much in fact that we never seem to meet on another. Then we notice that we have enough money to go around the world and our little game of hide and seek became ever harder. I can't remember the last time I actually saw my parents, face to face that is. I sighed; _I am so depressing_.

I rose up suddenly; this seemed like the perfect time to write back to Marcus and the others, which I always imagined together, like a gang. I went to sit at Ginny's desk, grabbed a piece of parchment from a pile, a quill and a small cup of ink. I wasn't quite sure what I would write yet, so I took a moment to gather my thoughts, and soon, all my problems vanished and I locked myself up in my own little world.

 **Dear** **twat** **Marcus,**

 **Yeah, I'm still alive but who knows for how long. Living here isn't that bad, you'd love sharing a room with Ginny. The twins, yeah, they're the problem. Idiotic assholes, the both of them. Can't you bust me out? I can't stand staying here.**

 **Please answer, I really need to talk to someone…**

 **Keep the idiots under control,**

 **Love, Hailey**

I folded that parchment neatly and fiddled it in my hands. I just sat there for a while, looking down at the piece of paper in my hands and wondering whether I actually had any friends. I couldn't talk to Marcus, Adrian or Terence, Ginny and I couldn't say we got along and talking to ether George or Fred was out of the question. What was left for me then?

A soft hoot grabbed my attention as Night landed gracefully on the windowsill. I hurried to open the small window for her to hop onto my shoulder.

"Hey there girl," I patted her head tenderly. As only response, she tried to grab the letter out of my hands. I chuckled softly. "Bring it to Marcus Flint okay?" The owl shook her head and disappeared within the second, taking my letter along with her. I guess that meant 'yes'? _Well, what do I do now?_ I wondered, looking around the room and biting on the inside of my lip.

* * *

I heard the door shut downstairs and my eyes fluttered open. _When did I fall asleep?_ I rose from my bed – mattress on the ground—and stretched my arms over my head. I looked around to make sure Ginny wasn't there then hopped out of bed and straightened my clothes. The door left me in a difficult position, go downstairs and possibly face the twins or stay here and mope around the entire day. I looked into the open, eyes blank until I had managed to take a decision. My curiosity took the better of me, and soon I was rumbling down the stairs and reached the bottom as fast as I could. I was being stupid, I knew that, but it's hard having to face your problems. I couldn't hear anything, or anyone for that matter, which helped me stepped into the kitchen with a _little_ –mind the key word here—more confidence.

"Where is everyone?" I asked to no one in particular, only to jump in surprise when a voice answered me.

"They went to Diagon Alley, mother had to do some shopping, and she thought it was best to you away from the twins for today."

I looked at Percy, and then studied the room. He was sitting at the dinner table, books spread across it and head low, as if he'd been working for hours. I wasn't surprised that he was working during the holidays; I mean he was commonly described as a goody-two shoe that worked more than he needed and snogged Penelope Clearwater in empty classrooms. I should keep that thought to myself.

I nodded and turned around, deciding to leave and go back to my moping until Percy stopped me.

"My brothers can be twats."

I looked at the ground. "I ruined everything didn't I?"

"'Course not."

"But your mother…"

"My mother will understand," Percy assured, dropping his pen. I heard it hit the table. "She knows relationships are hard, and that they don't all start nicely."

"If you say so," I kept my eyes onto the ground and my feet began moving by themselves.

"Hailey," Percy sighed. "You're not in a house full of wolves you know, people do care about you and your well being."

"Who?" my voice was so low I didn't think he had heard.

"Me."

I didn't quite know how to interpret that, so I just stood there, dumbfounded. Slowly, I turned back to look at Percy. He had dropped his quill, and pushed all his work aside. He was just looking at me, a small smile at the corner of his lips. Gently, he tapped the seat next to him on the wooden bench. I turned back, as if someone was suddenly coming to tell me I shouldn't, but seeing as we were the inly in the house nothing happened. I raised my eyes to the ceiling, sighing before walking over to Percy and taking the seat next to him.

There was a long silence between us, neither of us pressed to say anything. It was soothing actually; to be with someone you knew meant you no harm, to be this comfortable even in silence. However, silence can't last forever and as it always happened, I broke it first.

"I've acted like a brat." I heard Percy sigh.

"Hm, well maybe you are one." He looked at me and smiled, as if reassuring me that this was some sort of joke and that he meant nothing by it. I just looked confused honestly.

"You probably don't remember this, but I used to babysit you as a kid."

"You did not!" My eyes widened.

"I did. You were," he stopped to find his words, "well horrible really. Running around everywhere and hiding all the time so I wouldn't find you. You got me in trouble with your parents, the gardener, the butler and all the other people working around the house!" I snickered at his words, _yeah that does sound like me_.

"Must have been interesting pay for that," I commented.

"Oh I wasn't paid."

"Then my parents got you good," I laughed. Percy also laughed at this and suddenly it felt like everything was fine again. I wasn't alone, I wasn't in trouble, I was just fine as long as Percy was near me.

"I know it's hard for you," Percy began, seriousness taking over his features. "I know Slytherin isn't the happiest house and Marcus the best friend anyone wishes to have. I know George acted like an idiot but…"

I'm sure he meant well, even though his words came difficultly. Clearly he had no idea of what he was going to say next. I decided maybe I should take over,

"Thanks."

"I know you're scared that spending the holiday with us is going to ruin everything you worked for," Percy said seriously. "But aren't friends suppose to support each other no matter what?"

"I guess I've got shitty friends," was my response, faking a smile and looking up at Percy. He smiled back but answered quickly,

"You know, if you made an effort you could make real friends here instead of fighting with my brothers."

"I don't think I can do that," I admitted rather quickly. I didn't mind Percy, nor Ginny and I guess Ron could be okay, but the simple thought of spending time with Fred and George made me sick. "Besides, I don't really know how," I added. Percy raised a brow and looked down quickly, guiding my gaze to our hands between us. My right hand was locked with his, _how had I not realized it?_

"I…"

"We're hoooome" Molly's voice echoed around us suddenly as the door swung open. I jumped and let go of Percy suddenly, standing up and taking a step away from him. I had no reason to; it wasn't like we were doing anything wrong. In fact, I had appreciated spending this time with Percy, it felt right, like being with family.

Molly stepped into the house, Ginny trailing behind her closely, holding a couple books in her arms. Fred and George were next, holding up bag of groceries. The both stopped in the doorway, eyes locked onto me. I gulped.

"I wanted to apologize for my earlier behavior," I blurred out suddenly, looking at Molly. "I acted like a child and I'm sorry." I can't say it was exactly true. I was deliberately trying to annoy George, and I was only sorry because his reaction hurt me, however this seemed like the most polite thing to do.

"Oh it's no worries darling," Molly smiled dearly. Molly then turned to George and I followed with my gaze. "I'm sure George has something to say too."

George pressed his lips together and sighed. "You're sorry huh?" he looked me down. "Well," he dropped both bags onto the ground. "I'm not." With that he stormed past me and out of the kitchen. I heard Molly scream something at him and Fred hurry after his brother. I was pretty sure I was going to cry again, until I felt my right hand being pulled to the side. I looked down, only to see that Percy had taken it once more. He was smiling at me warmly, and I could just read his thoughts.

 _It's hard, but you're going to be okay._

"Hailey," Ginny called my name. "Come on, let's go upstairs." She leaned it and grabbed me away from Percy, squeezing my hand lightly. I looked at her, surprised but she only smiled at me.

 _Yes, I'll be okay._

* * *

 **Seems like something went wrong with the letter there. The words 'twat' and 'Please answer, I really need to talk to someone' were ment to be crossed out. Sorry, hope it still made sense.**


	5. Chapter 5

I sighed for what felt like the thousandth time as I trekked behind Percy, trying my hardest to match his fast pace. My eyes fixed onto the back of his legs, I was hunched over, hands in my pockets to prove my discontentment. It's not that I didn't enjoy Percy's company, but I had my limits with him, much like his brothers had theirs about me – which I believe we've reached a while ago.

Over the course of these couple days, after the whole 'incident', Percy has resolved to stay by my side, which actually takes a toll on me. Ginny seems to understand as she works on staying away from me after my long days with Percy, allowing me some quiet alone time. Fred and George have established a pattern to avoid me throughout the day and whilst Ron seems like he's gotten over his fear, he is still unable to pronounce a single word in my presence. This vacation, although it has only just began, feels like an eternity and I already know it's going to feel like an eternity more before I can return to the safety of my common room in Hogwarts.

Today was 'shopping day' as Percy called it, forcing me into endless shops filled with books and magical necessities that only someone ready to work during their holidays would even consider buying. Basically, we were in prat paradise. Currently rummaging through a pile of old books taller than myself, Percy seemed bothered, which announced nothing good for me. Luckily his constant searches were of short time as he quickly began walking again.

My thoughts were very suddenly cut off when my head came roughly in contact with the body before me. I groaned and rubbed my forehead, ready to yell at Percy for stopping without warning but the look in his eyes informed me that it would be useless. He looked like a child seeing Santa for the first time.

"I can't believe you actually managed to drag me here," I puffed up my cheeks like a child. Percy let out a small laugh and patted my head gently. It hadn't been hard per say, George's hard glare almost forced me out of the house. This simple action of my elder should have amused me, but today I had definitely woke up on the wrong side of the bed, and it did nothing more than annoy me.

"I'm glad you came along," he smiled gently. Of course he did, I was basically his shopping cart, following him like a puppy and holding the books he picked out. It's not that I had wanted to go with him to buy that damn book – which turned out to be a couple—but I truly had nothing better to do other than play some sort of card game with Ginny and her brothers. And like I said, the simple thought of spending more than a minute in a room with George was making me sick. Thus I accompanied Percy, and being the kind, gentle girl I am – Haha—decided to help by carrying his books.

"This is interesting!" Percy exclaimed suddenly, dropping another book onto my arms, making me gasp slightly at the sudden weight. "Oh sorry! You know, I can hold them if you want."

"No no," I assured. "Besides, don't go thinking I'm doing this for free. You're buying me a drink after this." If I was going to do this, I might get something out of it in return right?

"Am I now?" Percy raised a brow. There it was, the look of the prat. I'm pretty sure it was that look that made the entire Slytherin House including a couple Gryffindors think of him as a complete twat.

"Hm-hm," I hummed without actually paying attention to what he was saying, following him into another alley, which contained even more books than the previous one. I huffed in annoyance. "Ok that's it. I'll pay for my own drink, I just can't do this anymore!" I declared and placed the books in my hands onto a nearby table. _Wow, 30 seconds, new record_. Percy added another to the already too heavy stack.

"Well, I guess we'll just get them when I'm done alright?"

"Wait, why does that sound like you're not even close to finished?" I asked, almost worried. Percy simply smiled and turned back around, engulfing himself in the massive alleys of books on spells and magical beasts with a wide smile onto his face. I groaned loudly and rested my hands onto my knees for a second, judging my chances. Should I risk following Percy into another rant about _this totally awesome new book by this totally important wizard_ I couldn't give a fuck about, or just turn around and go on my own journey through endless alleys of knowledge filled volumes.

Hurriedly, I spun onto my heels and pushed in the other direction, eyes locked onto the ground and an annoyed expression onto my face. Strolling along the bookshelves without a particular direction to go in, I was simply trying to pass time whilst staying away from Percy as I feared my nerves would take much more of his rants.

Truth be told I loved him as I would love any of my family members. Percy was truly like a brother to me, which felt nice knowing my parents were never really around to care for me. Plus, I guess he was sort of cute, if you like the snotty red-head type. However, imagine spending 12 hours trapped in a small closet with your brother, admit it, you'd go mental. Well, my closet is my holiday, and Percy has began taking up a little too much room recently, thus my need for a break. Unfortunately I'm not close enough to any other member of the Weasley family to indeed catch a break. Ron would freak and Ginny, however nice, would end up getting bored of me. As for the twins… why am I even considering it?

I suddenly came to a halt when my body crashed into another. I pushed myself back and apologized sloppily as I tried to regain balance. Two rather large hands were placed onto my shoulders, forcing my attention towards the person in front of me. What I saw first was a large set of teeth sending me a nasty grin, followed by a:

"Woah there princess, better watch yourself."

My brain seemed pleased to finally recognize a voice that wasn't from a red-head and yet my heart did not want to smile. I thus simply stared at the Slytherin Quidditch Captain with a frown as a silence set between us. "Well, what are you starting at Princess?" Marcus finally asked after a couple seconds.

"You," I answered honestly without thinking it through. I noticed my mistake when his grin vanished, only to be replaced by a look I could not describe in any other way than 'creepy'. _Come on Hailey_ , I mentally slapped myself, _you know better than to provoke a Slytherin. You are one for crying out loud!_

"Weren't you supposed to be in Greece?" I asked quickly, shifting the topic of the conversation.

"Weren't you supposed to get me the Gryffindor's quidditch strat?" he replied automatically. I huffed and turned my back to him, saying in a sarcastic deep voice:

"It's nice to see you too Hailey! No I'm not in Greece because I lied about that! Say, would you mind doing me a favor? I desperately need the Grydffindor's quidditch strats for our next game because I can't wi-"

"Enough." Marcus said darkly. _Here I go provoking him again!_ To be honest, it was probably a good thing he cut me off, because he would not have liked my next sentence, and I would not have liked the consequences of saying it. I stopped dead in my tracks, motivated by the tone of his voice. It only took him two long strides to catch up with me and secure an arm around my waist. I shivered unwillingly. "Don't mock me beautiful."

Marcus gently kissed my cheek as he continued, "It **is** nice to see you princess, and I'm only leaving next week." I sighed, both annoyed and relieved by his response.

"It's not that easy Marcus," I responded.

"How's it not?"

"I don't know anyone that belongs to the Gryffindor Quidditch team other than the Weasley twins and they hate me!" I moaned. "Come to think of it hate isn't strong enough of a word," I continued under my breath.

"Well of course they hate you! You're our Slytherin pride!"

"Thanks," I answered, not believing a single word he said. _Also that's not a real title, and if it was… well that wouldn't be helpful to build a good reputation,_ I added in my head. Marcus might have had a small brain and a horrible set of teeth but he was known for his endless lies and unbelievable control over the Slytherin house. If you woke up one day with the entire house against you, then you probably pissed Marcus off… or got Draco's father involved in some bullshit.

"And that's why you're going to lie your way into the team, make friends with them," his voice sounded suddenly a whole lot more determined.

"Why does that sound like a threat?"

Marcus smiled evilly and opened his mouth to speak but was cut off before even pronouncing a single word.

"Well, Marcus Flint. I would have never expected you to be in a bookstore," Percy noted. "Can you even read?" My mouth was agape. Percy, capable of irony and mockery? What a shock!

"Just wanted to try out being a prat, seeing how it worked for me. No doubts though, looks way better on you," Marcus answered, tightening his arm around my waist. I was just standing here, watching a battle between two lose hounds. Sure it wasn't an exciting one, but it was better than anything that happened this week: drama!

"Come on Hailey," Percy grabbed my hand and pulled me out – not without difficulty—of Marcus' iron grip. I stumbled forwards and smiled awkwardly as Percy pulled me away, but not without sending one last glare in Marcus' direction.

"Hailey."

His voice was cold. Marcus never called me by my name, I was usually called a variety of nicknames including Princess, Missy, Cutie, Love or even Sweet lips. This meant nothing good. Although Percy was holding a firm grip onto my wrist I managed to turn around, taking a glance at Marcus's lips moving. I was a pretty good lip-reader; he knew that from all the cheating we did in class, so I had no problem understanding what he had said. And I was scared to the bone.

 _I sat down with what I supposed was the saddest face in the world in front of a small girl with her black hair tied in two short ponytails. Being a first year is hard enough, but being sorted into a different house than your parent's is humiliating. What is everyone laughs at me for having Gryffindor Parents? What if mom and dad are angry with me for being in Slytherin?_

 _I munched onto a small piece of pumpkin pie whilst keeping my eyes down. I was too scared to even speak, but luckily the girl before me wasn't._

 _"_ _Hi!" her squeaky voice said. I looked up, surprised. "I'm Jill! I'm a First year too!"_

 _"_ _H-Hailey," I answered weakly. Jill smiled and nodded vigorously. She continued babbling quite loudly which comforted me slightly, not only because I didn't have to speak up, but also because it seemed to her we were already friends. I wasn't alone after a-_

 _Her monologue and my train of thoughts were interrupted when a boy stepped behind her and pressed a handful of pie onto the top of her skull. My eyes went wide as I just stared in silence._

 _"_ _Shut it Jill." A boy with black hair and horribly disproportionate teeth spoke up. His friends around him, and the boy behind Jill all snickered silently. I turned my head to the boy, eyes still wide with terror and confusion. He smirked at me. "Come sit with us, it'll be better company." I noticed one of his pals stand up and walk towards me. I was guessing that meant a 'no' would allow me to receive the pumpkin pie beauty hair lotion but I just sat silently, looking towards him and Jill as if asking for advice._

 _"_ _Go…" Jill silently spoke, eyes onto the table. "Go, or you'll regret it…"_

 _I stood quickly and was escorted back towards the black haired boy. I assumed he was trying to smile kindly this time, although his teeth weren't helping with that._

 _"_ _Marcus Flint, welcome to Slytherin House Princess."_

 _"_ _T-Thank you," I answered slowly. I turned back to look at Jill but Marcus brought my attention back to him._

 _"_ _Don't mind her. We'll get you to the top of the podium, you'll never get bullied! We'll protect you from now on, right guys?" His friends answered positively. "But of course, that means you can't hang out with just anyone…"_

That day, the day I met Marcus, in a sense I was already being bullied but I wasn't strong enough to fight back. I went from this scared little girl to what I am now, what a change huh? Slytherin House made me who I am… but looking back at Marcu's lips I noticed that Slytherin House was also what could destroy me.

" _I got you to the top of the podium, I can push you off it."_


	6. Chapter 6

I was bothered. Well, I guess I was always bothered whenever I was surrounded by redheads, mostly because getting stuck between George's glare and Percy's overly protective brotherly love was incredibly off-putting, but also because I couldn't get Marcus' words out of my head. We always call Draco the Slytherin Prince but in that case, Marcus is the King and he has a pretty strict way of ruling over his kingdom. I knew that he wasn't kidding, every word was true and if I didn't do exactly what he wanted, I'd get thrown off of my perch and drowned into the waters surrounding the Hogwarts castle.

I was a Slytherin, and the truth was that we were taught to lie and cheat our way through life without ever getting caught. However, that being our way of being didn't make it right. I was torn. I needed to get those Quiddicth strats but the Weasley's – and the entire Gryffindor house in general – didn't really deserve it. I mean, yeah, we fight a lot. The whole, Slytherin versus Gryffindor is our thing, like a constant little battle of power but we didn't actually try to murder one another. At least, not yet... I had no reason to hate them enough to actually compromise their entire Quidditch season.

My attention was diverted to Molly Weasley when she began speaking loudly. Arthur had to work late as I had understood and wasn't present at the table, which left Molly to do the entire dinner conversation by herself. I played with my food as she spoke, explaining something to Percy about the Ministry. I wasn't hungry – thought to be honest I wasn't really feeling anything at the moment. I needed to think, think of a plan, a solution to this problem, some way to fix this without loosing everything I worked for or punish people whom hadn't done anything to me.

"Ronald!" Molly said suddenly, making me look up from my plate and turn to her youngest boy. I noticed that he quickly averted his eyes from me to look at his mother. _Was he staring at me_ , I wondered. Molly looked at him with an expecting look but as he son didn't answer, she sighed and repeated her question. "Are Harry and Hermione coming to visit tomorrow?"

"Uhm, yes. If that's okay," Ron answered. I turned to him with surprise. I'm pretty sure that was the first time I heard a single word out of him. His voice was a little raspier than I thought it would be.

"Of course dear, they're welcome any time!" Molly assured, sending the empty plates towards the sink for them to be washed. Ron turned to me once more, our eyes locking together. I wondered why he was suddenly so brave around me when he's been avoiding me until now. Maybe he was finally opening up, the same way Ginny and Percy did.

George cleared his throat and Ron looked back down quickly. I tilted my head towards the twins only to notice George glaring at me. I held his gaze.

"What about you two?" Molly asked.

"We're meeting up with Oliver and the rest of the Quidditch team to organize a summer practice match," Fred said quickly as George continued to stare at me. One of my brows rose. _Quidditch match you say?_

"Alright then, busy day tomorrow! I won't be at home, your father and I have things to care of," Molly said slowly, clearly meaning she didn't want her children to ask any questions. We all nodded as she picked our empty plates, sending them towards the sink as well.

"Hailey, you've barely eaten!" Mrs Weasley said suddenly. I smiled uncomfortably, looking away from George.

"S-sorry, I wasn't very hungry," I apologized. Molly brushed it off and told me to serve myself from the fridge if I ended up being hungry later. I nodded quickly, almost running out of the room. Percy did try to catch my arm as I passed next to him but I evaded his touch quickly. I needed to be alone and think about all of this. _What the hell do I do now?_

"Hailey?" Percy's voice echoed in my ears. I opened my eyes slowly only to meet his above me. I groggily sat up from my bed, wondering when I had fallen asleep. Percy was crouched next to me, looking almost worried.

"What's up?" I asked him slowly, my voice still filled with sleep.

"Can I talk to you? About the library?"

I sighed. I didn't want to discuss this with him. I couldn't. His family had been so nice to house me for the summer – ignore the twins in this sentence – and I couldn't thank them by throwing their children's Quidditch games. It wasn't right. Yet if I didn't...

"I don't really want to talk about it Percy," I answered truthfully. _No, this is my burden to bear; I'll find a solution. I have to..._

"I get it but... I just need you to hear me out okay?"

"You have two minutes, "I said harshly, my Slytherin roots returning to my voice.

"I know you feel like you're all alone here, but as I've told you before, you aren't. Ginny and I are here for you. And I know that my brothers can be hard to live with, especially for you, but I truly believe that if you try to open up to them and be yourself, like you are with us, then they'll do the same with you."

"Percy, you don't get it," I tried to cut him off.

"I do, more than you think. I know being in Slytherin must have been really hard for you, and I know reputation means everything in that house. But in Gryffindor, we don't rely on reputation, we rely on friends, real friends that are there for you no matter what. Maybe that's what we can teach you this summer." Percy smiled. I shook my head.

"That's the thing Percy, I'm not a Gryffindor, I'm a Slytherin. I cheat and lie and I'm good at what I do. Don't you think being friends with a couple Gryffindors is going to make my life even worse than it is just being here?" I responded, my eyes darkening with anger. I had no reason to be angry with Percy; I had no reason to be angry with anyone but myself. Actually no, this wasn't my fault, it was my parents'. They're the ones that are never there for me, that send me away every chance they get. It's their entire fault. If they couldn't take care of a child, they just shouldn't have had one in the first place.

"I'm sorry you take it that way," Percy stood up, walking out of the room.

"Yeah, whatever."

That is the moment I realized something had I overlooked before. _I am a Slytherin_. I haven't needed the Weasley's to make it through school before so why would it be any different after this summer. I wasn't here to make friends. I was here because I had been forced to be, and this was the perfect opportunity to make a difference for my house. ' _Just do what Slytherins do best: lie.'_

Now it all made sense. I just had to play nice, get what I wanted and leave, end of story. However, getting the Quidditch strats meant getting close to the Captain, and how the hell was I going to meet Wood?

"Okay, so we go get him tonight," a hushed murmur made it's way to my ears. I looked towards the hall way and got on my feet, walking closer to the noise.

"How are we going to sneak out without mom noticing?" that was Ron's voice, no doubt. I leaned against the frame.

"We do it all the time, trust us," Fred said confidently. "We go out and come back with Harry in the morning, no one will know."

"I don't know," Ron didn't sound sure. _Harry heh?_ The boy who lived...

"Well do you want him to come over or not?" that was George. From what I gathered, Potter was locked in his house and needed the Weasley's to come rescue him, or something along those lines. However, the boys couldn't get caught by their mother in fear of receiving a very strict punishment. Also, they were leaving tonight. _Well... I guess I could find a way to help them out..._

I walked down the stairs slowly. I didn't know what time it was, but everyone in the house was asleep, everyone but the trio that was about to sneak out of the house to rescue the boy who lived. I heard them speaking as I reached the bottom.

"Get yourself together Ron," Fred patted his brother's back. Ron was standing in the doorway, looking outside with the most indescribable expression on his face.

"Besides, we told you, we've done this before," George assured, standing on the other side of his younger brother.

"Didn't you guys get in a heap of trouble for that?" Ron asked, gulping. The twins looked towards each other and made a face.

"Uhm... Yes," George said.

"But it was all worth it," Fred added, mostly to reassure the younger redhead. I chose this time to make my entrance.

"Besides," I stepped into the room, only to see the three jump and turn around quickly. "You'll only get in trouble if you get caught right?" I leaned against the railing, arms crossed over my chest. Since no one was moving, I decided to act. I uncrossed my arms, revealing my wand and pointed it towards the clock on the wall, - clock which was actually some sort of weird radar that Mrs Weasley used to know were here children were 24/7 – and muttered a curse so that the clock wouldn't move. I turned back to them and put on the most genuine smile I could muster, "Don't be too long okay?"

"Why are you doing this?" George seemed highly unimpressed.

"I think we got off on the wrong foot. I'm just trying to start anew, fix things if you will," I lied. I was pretty sure they knew it, but I could assure that they didn't care. Weather or not I meant it, I was helping them, and they were going to overlook my actions completely because of that.

"T-thank you," Ron stuttered. I simply smiled in response. George sighed.

"Alright, let's just go before the _snake_ changes her mind and we all get into trouble."

"I feel insulted that you'd think I'd turn you in," I feigned being hurt, placing a hand over my heart. George glared at me.

"Hailey, do you promise not to turn us in?" Fred asked, eyes locking into mine.

"Of course."

"Then that's enough for me, let's go," He pulled his brothers out the door. I stood there, dumbfounded for a couple seconds. How was my word enough for him, when half of the things coming out of my mouth were lies? I shook it off and walked back upstairs.

 **Well that was horrible. To be honest I hate this part, it's like a shitty filler... I'm sorry. I know where I want this story to go but I just don't know how to get there... I'll figure it out, somehow...**


	7. Chapter 7

**WARNING! THIS ENTIRE CHAPTER IS IN RON'S POINT OF VIEW. I ALREADY APOLOGIZE IF HE IS OCC!**

"So, how do we play again?" I asked, completely lost between all the cards in my hands. Hermione had offered to teach us a muggle game involving a totally normal and boring deck of cards. Honestly, I didn't know why I had accepted to participate; maybe it was the smile tugging on Hermione's lips when she asked us to play, or the twinkle in her eyes when Ginny had asked her to explain the rules. Whatever it was, we were all now sitting at the kitchen table, cards in hand.

"Pay attention Ron! I've explained it twice already," Hermione said bossily. I dropped my head low.

"It's not my fault your game is difficult," I mumbled. Hermione hit my head softly as she countered:

"It's not! You're just not paying attention!"

This entire scene seemed to greatly amused Harry whom knew the game and Ginny who had already understood the rules, as they both seemed to smile mockingly. I was going to retort when we heard a soft ruffling noise near the door. All our heads snapped up and we turned to the noise, staring at the intruder who rolled on the balls of her feet and tugged at the bottom of her large, grey sweater.

"Sorry," she apologized quickly. "I didn't mean to interrupt."

Hailey looked pretty harmless this morning, her usual Slytherin look of utter proudness gone from her features, replaced by one of a shy and defenseless girl. I narrowed my eyes at her, something was wrong.

"Hailey!" Ginny dropped her cards on the table and jumped to her feet, hurrying to her new friend and grabbing her hand. "I want you to meet Hermione and Harry!"

Hailey looked over to me, as if waiting for my approval to greet my two best friends. I sighed internally and said:

"Hailey is staying with us for the summer, her parents are working with the minister."

She took that as her cue and smiled. "It's nice to meet you," she waved slightly.

"You're a Slytherin aren't you?" Hermione cut her off, earning a frightened look from the Slytherin.

"Uhm, yeah?"

"You helped Neville once, when he was being bullied by Draco's minions, Grabbe and Goyle," Hermione said as if reading it out of a textbook. I turned to Hailey with a questioning look. Had she? I didn't remember that.

"Neville?" the named seemed foreign to the Slytherin. "Oh you mean Longbottom! Yeah, I guess I did," Hailey rubbed the back of her neck with a smile.

"Are you one of Malfoy's friends?" Harry asked immediately, probably wondering if he'd have to be careful around Hailey as he was around Malfoy. Hailey turned to him.

"Draco? Oh no!" she responded immediately. "He's kind of a prick isn't he? Got Terrence kicked off the Quidditch team in his second year."

"So you're on the Quidditch team?" Hermione asked.

"No," Hailey was pulled over to the table by Ginny, who forced her to sit next to her. "Marcus doesn't let girls on the Slytherin team."

"Why not?"

"Who knows," Hailey simply stated.

"He's kind of a prick too," Percy entered the room and sat next to us. His statement didn't make Hailey laugh, as I had thought it would, but she stared at my eldest brother with a defensive look, the ones Slytherin's always harbored when you attacked one of their own. She had been fine insulting Malfoy seconds ago, so what was it about Marcus that she felt she needed to be on his side? "What are you all up to?"

"We're playing a card game, would you like to join us?" Hermione smiled politely. Percy nodded and Hailey was sort of dragged into the game by Ginny. Everything seemed fine; we played for an hour or so without anyone getting insulted, jinxed or cursed. Throughout the game, I kept a watchful eye on Hailey, whom was busy trying to learn the rules, having difficulty with them like I was. Every time she'd get confused, she'd frown and pass a hand through her long chocolate hair, her hazel eyes darting back and forth from the deck to her hand. She could have been described as plain looking, but she was actually very beautiful; every action, every move she made was gracious, so much so you didn't quite want to take your eyes off of her. Hermione was like that also, she had these little ticks that would make her incredibly pretty.

"Ron? It's your turn!" Harry waved a hand in front of my face. I turned to him, realizing I had been staring at Hailey the whole time. The Slytherin blushed lightly and looked away. It was strange, when never actually talked, just stared at one another like idiots. I noticed Hermione clearing her throat.

"Oh yeah," I played a card down. As soon as I did, Hermione complained about how that wasn't the card I was supposed to put down, that I hadn't learned the rules properly and all that. I wasn't quite paying attention. All I could think about was that Hailey was different. She had changed over the course of this week, thought so had I. I went from completely ignoring her to just plain staring at her. I guess that was weird too huh?

* * *

"I'm going to go to the bathroom," Harry declared, standing from the table once our game was done. He pushed away from the table and disappeared out the door.

"Would you like to see that book we talked about Hermione?" Ginny offered. Hermione nodded vigorously – of course she would if you're talking about a book—and both witches disappeared after my best friend, leaving me, Percy and the Slytherin amongst ourselves. There was a long period of silence, where Hailey, sat next to Percy and in front of me, just looked around the room aimlessly, probably trying to focus her attention on something different than a Weasley.

"Hailey," she turned towards the noise, all of us surprised by who it was. She didn't say anything, but I'm sure her eyes said plenty: surprise, confusion, and all the things she should be feeling right now.

"Thank you. I knew I could trust you," Fred said, looking deeply into her eyes. The way they looked at each other gave me a strange feeling, like they were only actually seeing each other for the first time since she had stepped foot in this house. I knew Percy also felt strange being in the middle of this, seeing as he gave the unmoving deck of cards his undivided attention.

"You're welcome," Hailey answered after the long silence that had set over the two. Fred kept his eyes on her for a couple more seconds before nodding and shuffling out of the room when George called his name from upstairs.

Hailey looked down at her hands and started playing with her fingers until Percy grabbed her hand. "I'm proud of you," he said calmly. She kept her eyes on his hands and nodded. "I know it's hard for you, but you're really making an effort, and that's what counts."

Feeling like I wasn't supposed to be here, just staring awkwardly at my brother and Hailey have 'a moment', I rose from my seat and exited the room, bumping into Harry on my way out.

"Upstairs," I mumbled to him quickly, refusing to turn around and watch as Percy showered Hailey in compliments. _Gross…_ I hurriedly climbed the stairs, Harry close behind me and stopped at Ginny's bedroom door. Inside, Ginny and Hermione were discussing a topic that made them both giggle and blush repeatedly. Not wanting to know what that was about either, I simply called Hermione.

"We're going upstairs," I said quickly. Hermione gave me a weird look with furrowed eyebrows, but decided to accompany us nonetheless. Once reaching my room, I pushed both of them inside and closed the door.

"Ron, what's wrong?" Hermione asked.

"Hailey, don't you think she's weird?" I asked quickly, with a voice that almost made it seem like we were being attacked by Death Eaters. It wasn't that bad – thankfully – but there was definitely something wrong.

"Weird?" Harry questioned.

"She was really nice Ron," Hermione said plainly.

"Yeah, she was. She's a Slytherin, isn't she supposed to be a brat?"

"Not all Slytherin's are like Draco Ron," Hermione countered, crossing her arms over her chest. "She might actually be genuinely nice."

"She might," I stated. "But she wasn't two days ago. Her and George have been fighting non-stop since she's arrived here. And yesterday, out of the blue she just randomly accepted to help us rescue Harry. That's not the least bit suspicious to you?" I hollered.

Hermione and Harry both kept silent, but I could tell they weren't looking at me anymore, but rather, at what – or who – was behind me. I slowly turned; scared that whatever it was was going to jump on me when I locked eyes with it, as it would in any good horror movie Hermione always talked about. When I realized what it was, I understood it was much worse than any horror movie could ever be. You don't see an angry Ginny everyday, but when you do, turn and run because she is SCARY.

"What are you talking about?" she scolded me on a cold tone. She placed both of her hands onto her waist and looked down at me. "Do you even know her? No, you don't! Don't you think this is a lot harder on her than it is on us? If she has a problem, she's all alone in a house full of people who don't support her, whereas we can rely on one another for help. She's all alone here, don't you think she deserves a chance? She's been nothing but nice to me – and you – since she's arrived. She helped get Harry here and she hasn't done anything wrong to George who went A-wall on her! Percy and I are the only ones who've actually been nice to her!" Ginny ranted on.

"Besides, she's nice to you, and you're going to complain about how that's suspicious?"

"I… Well…" I stuttered, standing defenseless in front of my sister and Hermione whom backed her up. "I guess not."

I did what any guy would do: I agreed with the girls. I didn't believe one word, no Slytherin could go from pest to nice in a day, but maybe Hailey did deserve a chance. Although, I was still going to keep an eye on her. _There's just something that's not right… I can feel it…_

 **That was kind of a filler wasn't it? I'm sorry! Next time, we'll meet Oliver Wood and his love for Quidditch… So, see you around!**


	8. Chapter 8

What is this feeling I am feeling? What is this feeling that is filling me up, taking over my body and mind, tense yet so liberating?

I breathed in the cool air, smiling to myself when the smell of broom polish reached my nostrils. The smell of cowhide used for the player's gloves, the rustling of the broom and the simply sight of the pitch were enough to make me ecstatic.

I could see _him_ flying up above me, swirling and dashing endlessly to catch the quaffle constantly being thrown towards the hoops. Of course, like the good Keeper he was, he stopped all of them. He had a small smile on his hips, but on the onside he was probably just like me, barely containing his excitement.

I knew that my reaction to his sight should have been a sigh, a sneer or a degrading comment; basically anything that would have been considered overly Slytherin of me. And yet I couldn't help but smile.

"You seem excited to be here," Percy came and stood beside me.

"I love Quidditch," I simply replied, judging it explained all of my current behaviors. I took another whiff of the air around me.

"Thought you said you didn't," Percy remarked. "That it was the reason why you weren't on the Slytherin team."

I turned to him and noticed he had a book tucked under his right arm. It didn't surprise me at all, even if Percy had agreed to join us on today's fieldtrip, he had still taken his work with him. _How amusing._

"I lied."

It seemed so easy now, to just tell the truth like it didn't really matter, like it wasn't going to get thrown back into my face with worse consequences.

"Why aren't you on the team then?" a new voice interrupted our conversation. Even though I couldn't put a face on the voice, the accent was so easily recognizable. I turned to the Gryffindor captain, undoubtedly with an annoyed expression lying upon my features. "Sorry," the Scottish wizard apologized immediately, which surprised me greatly. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop. I'm Oliver, Wood. You're Hailey right? Harry told me about you."

I smiled and nodded in response, trying my best to cover up the obvious tension between us. Not only that, but I noticed that something was off about him, like he wasn't sure talking to me was the smartest thing to do, or like… he was embarrassed?

We stood in front of one another in complete silence for a while, until Percy whom had most definitely fest the uneasy tension decided to break the silence.

"Hailey," he called upon me. "Let's go sit on the bleachers alright?"

"Hm," I agreed and followed him, not bothering to say goodbye to the Gryffindor Quidditch captain. _Come on, I had to keep at least some of my Slytherin dignity!_

I followed Percy to the bleachers and sat in between him and Ginny. Hermione was sat down too, watching as Ron was being introduced to the rules of quidditch before their practice match.

"How did he get pulled into this?" I asked myself out loud.

"This is going to end badly," Hermione sighed, watching as Ron already seemed completely lost before even getting onto his broom. It was quite an amusing sight to be honest. He would worriedly look to a girl, who I assumed was Katie Bell, then back to Harry all whilst trying to evade our gazes set firmly onto his form. He was handed a broom and began fidgeting on the spot as everyone else began preparing themselves. They made two teams of four since they weren't enough to play with the normal rules – which seemed to greatly annoy Wood. I watched their setup, unwillingly memorizing it and commenting in my head.

Oliver had an amazing stance, so did Katie. Both calm yet ready to dash towards the quaffle, whereas Ron looked like he could fall off at any moment.

Suddenly, Oliver blew a whistle and the fake match began.

I had no idea that there was a quidditch pitch here, in the middle of nowhere. I mean, not nowhere, it was a wizard town after all but even so, seeing a Quidditch pitch out here was pretty surprising. It was old; the grass below had died on most part of it, leaving only dry dirt; the markings had also vanished – which made me wonder why they didn't enchant them to remain there when the pitch was built. The bleachers were probably the worst, old and unsteady. They moved slightly with the wind, creaking due to our weight.

The pitch was small compared to our school's but it was just enough to play a delightful game during the summer. Luckily, the goal posts were still intact, which is pretty much the most important part.

As I had understood, this pitch was used by a bunch of young wizards whom played the much less known game of Sceditch – which I only knew because all Slytherins enjoy games that have absolutely no rules and where cheating is allowed.

I watch as Fred hit one of the bludgers with his bat and it came flying towards us. For some reason, I didn't even react until Percy pulled me to his side, the bludger flying past us, barely missing me. Fred came flying towards us.

"I'm so sorry, are you okay?"

I blinked.

"Uhm, yeah?"

"She'll be fine," Percy assured, rubbing my shoulder. I tried to smile, shock finally taking over my body. Oliver suddenly appeared in sigh.

"Sorry about that," he apologized again, even though he had nothing to do with the event. I just blinked, how did I not see it coming? I was about to reassure Wood when I was interrupted:

"If those are your reflexes, I understand why you're not on the team," Katie Bell came flying our way, like a guard dog defending her – master – captain. And suddenly, the shock was gone. I felt one of my eyebrows twitch and from my peripheral vision I noticed Hermione's form leaning over to look at me, observing my reaction. I took a deep breath whilst Percy scooted away from me slowly.

 _She didn't just say that… Calm… Calm…_

"Were you trying to insult me there Bell?" I asked as calmly as I could. "Because from my perspective, it sounded like you think I can't kick your ass! On the Quidditch pitch or off of it," I added for effect – and also because I kind of felt like punching her in the throat. _And here is my competitive behavior!_

"It's cute that you believe you can," Katie answered, her eyes locked into mine, sparks flying between the both of us.

"Well, we've got a couple extra brooms, how about a game?" Oliver offered, pretty much forced to do so.

"Perfect," I stood, arms crossed.

"Can't wait," Katie answered just as fast.

 _Well, that escalated quickly._

"Since this is pretty much a dual, Hailey and Katie should both be the captains and chose their team members," Percy offered, raising his eyes from his book. If I didn't know better I would have thought Oliver had died on the spot; unfortunately it takes more than that to kill him – although taking away his job as captain came pretty close to it.

"Fine by me," I accepted, a smirk lingering on my lips at my macabre thoughts.

"Alright," Katie seemed a little more reticent, looking over to Oliver with a worried gaze. Has their loyalty towards one another got no end?

"Well then, to prove our respect and fair play, Hailey being the stranger on this pitch should be allowed to chose first," Percy informed, looking over to me and hiding a small smile. I was convinced they would refuse, but as history was proven right once more, the Gryffindors were hell-bent on being the good guys, thus they agreed immediately.

"I chose Ginny," I said without hesitation, earning the surprised looks of the team. Ginny hurried to my side with a wide smile. We hadn't talked about it much, but I had understood that she was interested in picking up Quidditch, and for everything that she had done for me – and all the things she was going to do for me – I was more than willing to help her set foot in this universe.

"Oliver," Katie pointed to her captain. No surprises there.

"Potter, if you'll accept," I looked towards Harry, using the nicest voice I could muster but keeping my proud Slytherin sneer on my face. Surprisingly, the boy who lived agreed without question and marched to my side. _Hm…_

"The twins," Katie said making me turn to her.

"Well what allows you to pick two people at once?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest. Katie barely even acknowledged me.

"Well I didn't picture you for a cheater, you do know it gets you nowhere right?" I smirked.

"You should tell that to your House team, they don't seem to have understood it at all," Katie defended, making me clench my jaw. Good one Gryffindor. "Just pick two people this round."

"Alright then," I agreed. Angelina was a bad idea, I couldn't trust her, she is a Gryffindor – not to mention that she has a strange way of looking lovingly at Fred. Ron? He's a wildcard, but maybe that could come to my advantage. Gryffindor's are tidy; they follow Oliver's plays and probably know them by heart. The thing is, Oliver doesn't plan for disaster…

Then who, someone trustable? There isn't anyone else, and I am NOT asking Hermione or Percy to join us. I may be their natural enemy; I don't actually want them to kill themselves.

"Ron and the blonde kid," I pointed to my two new teammates. I didn't know his name, nor did I care to be honest. I had seen him around the team a bunch, but he wasn't on it, clearly. Maybe his spite will come in handy?

Since we still weren't enough, we decided to play 5 on 5 instead of teams of seven. _This should be good._

"Alright team, listen up," Katie started away from us, before lowering her voice so I wouldn't hear her plays. I shrugged and walked over to my team, whom had already grouped together.

"Blonde kid, you're our beater, make sure we don't get hit. Harry, do what you do best. Ron, keeper. Ginny and I will be the chasers alright?"

"That's it?" the blonde kid asked. "No plays? No plan?"

"Do you need one?" I asked. "Do you need to constantly be babysat by Oliver Wood or are you actually good enough to get this game on your own and make the right decisions in the heat of the moment?" I looked down at him. Making people feel weak and useless in their normal environment is probably the best way to make them react and show their true abilities, whilst keeping their loyalty on your side. That techniques has been used and re-used in the Slytherin House constantly – that and just pure threats of course.

They all had very determined gazes now, which made me smirk.

"Let's prove to them we aren't just at the bottom of the pit. Let's prove that we're winners."

"Let's kick ass!" Ginny added.

"I like your spirit Weasley!"

I looked to Katie as we all prepared for the game. _You're going to regret challenging me Bell… You're going to regret showing me your plays. You're going to regret meeting me._

 _I know I'm supposed to feel sorry, and yet somehow, this just feels right. I am a Slytherin, maybe I should just come to terms with that and help my House. Look at me Marcus, I'm being your perfect little Slytherin Princess._


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello! I tried my best for the Quidditch scenes. Honestly action packed adventures aren't my forte but I tried, and I'm pretty happy with it! Please let me know what you thought of it, so I can improve myself!**

 **I may have rushed the ending a little, but I was so excited to give what you guys have been asking for, so I hope it's not too bad! Have a good reading!**

* * *

My breathing was calm and yet my heart was beating hard in my chest. It wasn't fear, oh no… It was excitement. I was shaking, ready to play this ultimate Quidditch match, which I had caused. I was more than ready to humiliate Katie and most of all, ready to prove that Slytherins didn't need to cheat to be better than Gryffindors – although it does help, _not gonna lie_.

"Everyone ready?" Oliver asked as we broke our little show-circles. We all agreed and climbed atop our brooms, flying up to float in a semi-circle around the center of the pitch, where Percy was standing. He had reluctantly agreed, after much persuasion to be the one to release the bludgers and golden snitch, as well as starting the game.

I quickly looked to my teammates; each held a confident and determined look in their eyes, which made me beam. Harry was heavily concentrating on the wooden box at Percy's feet, ready to follow the golden ball as soon as if would fly up in the air. I smiled towards him, even if he wasn't looking my direction; he too had no care of whether this was an actual game or not, he was just happy to be playing.

My leather-gloved hands tightened their grip onto the handle of my broom as my eyes shifted towards Katie. She looked in my direction briefly, before Percy grabbed our attention.

He opened the wooden crate and released the two bludgers, which came flying up, forcing a girl on Katie's team to dodge one rather quickly. He then released the Golden Snitch. The little ball flew around us for a moment, hovering longer near Potter before disappearing in the distance. Harry was still concentrated on it though; I could almost feel the tension in his muscles as he gripped onto his broom tightly, ready to disappear just as fast as the snitch did.

I my head, Lee's voice echoed as if he had been standing next to me, reciting the match: ' _Percy releases the bludgers, those nasty things! Followed by the Golden Snitch. Remember the Snitch is worth 150 points. The Seeker who catches the Snitch ends the game!_ ' I was almost saddened by his absence, even if this still wasn't an official game.

His voice continued ringing in my head all the while Percy picked the Quaffle in both his hands and threw it up in the air. ' _And the game begins!_ ' Things went by pretty fast after that.

Ron and Oliver, whom had both been flying in the semi-circle with the rest of us turned and flew towards their goalposts, ready to stop the Quaffle from flying through the hoops. Harry and Angelina, who for some reason had decided to be the Seeker for this game, both dived down towards the ground, slaloming around the other players to follow the Snitch.

Katie and George (whom was the second Chaser for this game) darted forwards to catch the Quaffle first and have that very precious advantage. I called to Ginny to get the ball, and propelled myself towards Katie, passing the Quaffle to continue straight onto the opposite Chaser, throwing her off guard and allowing Ginny to grab the large ball under her right arm and veer to the size, missing her brother by an inch. I smirked towards Katie and accelerated, catching up to Ginny, the blonde boy behind us, bat steady in hand.

We sprinted towards the end of the pitch, Katie and George close behind. Oliver was ready to defend himself from this very forwardly attack, flying around the hoops. I looked over to Ginny, whom gave me a nod towards the hoops. Nodding to inform her that I had understood, I slowed down and let her fly past me. Ginny approached the hoops dangerously quickly, holding the Quaffle like she was ready to shoot, but in the last second, she veered to the right and threw the Quaffle back to me. I spun on my broom, punching the Quaffle into the left hoop.

Oliver was faster than I would have imagined, and appeared as if out of nowhere, kicking the Quaffle away, only for it to be caught by George. I looked to Oliver for a second: he threw me a smug smile, that same smile I had seen him offer Marcus on so many occasions. This infuriated me…

I turned quickly and dived towards the other side of the pitch, where Ginny was helplessly trying to retrieve the Quaffle from her brother. George threw it above Ginny's reach towards Katie, whom flew hurriedly towards the hoops and sent it to the central hoop. Ron, who was absentmindedly looking at Harry, was slow on the defense and missed the Quaffle by a good 5 inches, allowing it to touch the side of the hoop and go through with a loud 'thung'!

' _10 points for Gryffindor!_ ' Lee's voice in my head was mocking me. Katie and George cheered loudly as Ron sent me an apologetic look. I squinted my eyes towards my enemies and flew to Ginny and the blonde boy.

"Listen up," I said quickly, knowing we didn't have much time to speak before the match was meant to start again. "Kid, whoever you're aiming at, make sure it's Katie. She's weak on her left side, make sure that's the only one she can use," I told him.

"What if she actually gets hurt?" the boy looked scared now.

"If she's a good player, she'll dodge it," I reassured him with a fake smile. I needed Katie out of the picture; she is clearly the best Chaser out of all of us. The blonde boy nodded unconvincingly and flew away from us.

"Hailey?" Ginny turned to me.

"It's not like I asked him to use the Cruciatus curse on her!" I exclaimed. "Getting hit by a Bludger is par of the fun! Besides, they have a good Chaser, Katie, a great beater, Fred and the best Keeper in our school!"

"Are you complimenting the Gryffindor team Hailey?" Ginny raised a brow towards me. I cringed.

"Tell anyone and I will end you Ginny Weasley!"

"Alright, alright, I'm just teasing you," she raised both her hands on the air, balancing on her broom. I gave her a quick smile before looking in Oliver's direction.

"Oliver goes left," I noticed.

"What?"

"Oliver always goes left. Aim left, shoot right. Confuse him," I instructed her. Ginny gave me a quick nod. "Oh and do you know the Porskoff Ploy?" Ginny wrinkled her brows in confusion. I guess not…

"How much Quidditch do you know Hailey?"

"A little," I smiled sheepishly. I got closer to her ear and whispered my play.

"Are you ready?" Katie yelled from the other side of the pitch. Ginny and I separated, smiled on our faces. It was our ball now.

* * *

Ginny darted across the field, immediately veering right when she came broom to broom with George. I flew in the other direction, confusing Katie by diving under her. Fred hit a nearby Bludger, which came flying my way. The blonde boy followed closely behind Ginny, which only left me to dodge the Bludger, thing I did rather easily. ' _Come on Weasley, you're not even trying,_ ' I mentally commented to Fred.

George came next to Ginny and leaned himself onto her right side. Katie came up on the other side, doing the same. They were going to make Ginny commit a foul! ' _That's a Slytherin move_ ,' I thought. ' _Perfect timing…_ '

I curved my trajectory and went towards Ginny, diving to fly under her. Katie sent me a confused glare and before she knew it, Ginny dropped the ball, which landed perfectly in my hands. I then stopped completely, losing both chasers before going right towards the hoops, Quaffle in hand. I analyzed the situation quickly, praying to myself that I hadn't read the signs wrong.

I aimed left, getting closer to the hoops, eyes locked on Oliver. In a split second, I turned my eyes towards the right hoop and threw the ball in, scoring our first ten points.

"Yes!" Ginny came up and gave me a high five. It was now my turn to give Oliver a smug look. He sighed in defeat and nodded towards me.

"Good play."

"Don't give up yet Wood, the game's only just began. I'm sure you can try to do better," I teased him. He sighed once more.

"You're going to regret saying that."

"Oh I hope so."

* * *

The rest of the game went by pretty slowly. With only two Chasers on each team, scoring became a difficult process. The scores were pretty equal throughout the match and nothing particularly amazing was happening. Somehow, over the course of an hour, we had managed to end up in a rut.

We were all tired and – as disgusting as that may sound – exceptionally sweaty, panting to catch our breaths as the match lengthened. The warm summer air and sunny day did nothing to help our cause, yet none of us wanted to stop, not even for a water break – tough that would have been the right thing to do. We were too far-gone, too engrossed in this match to even dare think of stopping for less than a second.

"This Snitch is giving me a hard time," I heard Harry speak to Ginny behind me. I could agree with him on that one, that the Snitch was particularly slippery this game.

"We know you can do it Harry. Even Hailey admitted that you were the best Seeker in the whole school!" Ginny tried whispering to him. I turned to glare at her. How dare she betray me like this! Ginny simply shrugged it off, and sent a reassuring smile towards Harry.

He agreed to try harder, to do better and catch the Snitch to end this folly game that was clearly leading nowhere. I joined the two to quickly go over the strategy once more. Oliver had noticed we were aiming in the opposite direction of our shots, so it was time to mix it up a bit.

"Aim left, shoot left," I told Ginny. She nodded and the game was off again. Katie had the Quaffle and was slaloming under us, trying her best to confuse us. Ginny marked her brother as I followed the Gryffindor towards our goal posts. She took a shot, quick and uncertain, as I was getting closer to her, which allowed Ron to stop it. I cheered.

"Nice work Ronald," Ginny yelled, eyeing Hermione whom was clapping and cheering loudly as well from the bleachers. I laughed seeing this. _Granger and Weasley? Really? Well this is interesting…_

Ginny retrieved the ball from her brother and flew off in the other direction, me close behind. The blonde boy sent a Bludger in George's direction, which he managed to dodge but not without being send off of his course and loosing precious seconds. Katie tried catching up to us, but I flew around her, careful not to actually touch or bump into her, to throw her off. Ginny aligned the shot and threw the Quaffle.

Oliver spun on his broom, kicking the brown ball away.

'It's not that easy Wood,' I mentally objected, and soaring in behind Ginny, I didn't think before I jumped onto my broom, both feet on the small wooden stick, trying my best not to fall over and ridicule myself. I didn't need to stay in this position long, for I jumped up into the air with nothing but wind under me and punched the Quaffle back into the central goal.

My amazing victory was of short duration as within the next second, I was free-falling. ' _Didn't think this through_ ,' I thought about screaming. My broom, came flying back under me, and I managed to catch myself – very clumsily at that – and settle back on it, breath uneven.

Oliver hadn't moved from his position near the left goal post, eyes wide. I looked up at him, meaning to be cool and smug but it simply turned out as scared and happy to be alive. _Curse the rashness of Slytherins!_

I gripped my broom stick tightly, trying to stop my hands from shaking this violently but to no avail. Luckily, Harry saved us all.

"I got it!" he bellowed. "We won!"

* * *

"That was pretty amazing!" Katie congratulated me after the match, whilst we were both drinking some cool, rewarding water. "I judged you too early," she apologized. I smiled at her.

"Thanks, you're a pretty good Chaser yourself, I had trouble catching up to you," I complimented. Ginny and Hermione were chatting, whilst Ron was explaining the whole match to Percy as if he hadn't been sitting right there the entire time.

"So now there's only one question left," Oliver came up behind me. I turned to him, a confused look onto my features.

"Why aren't you on the Slytherin team?"

"Ah," I sighed and looked away. "Well, let's just say… Have you ever seen a girl on the Slytherin team whilst Marcus was the Captain?"

Both Oliver and Katie furrowed their brows, trying to recall the best they could every Slytherin player since Marcus took on the captaincy. After a couple seconds, it was clear that none of them could come up with a single name, so I allowed myself to say: "Exaclty."

"That's not fair!" Katie looked horrified. "You're really good!"

"It's not that bad, Quidditch would take up too much time anyway," I lied whilst scratching the back of my head. Oliver and Katie continued to bicker about it as if I hadn't been standing in front of them, so I excused myself and walked carefully around the bleachers, making sure no one had seen me. I slowly took out a small notebook from my pocket and scribbled the plays I had been able to remember, the strength and weaknesses of each player on the field, including any other detail I could remember. Katie gripping her broom tighter whenever her tactic was to dive under us. The way Oliver looked at your eyes when you aligned your shot and not the position of your arm to make sure he wasn't going to miss it. Fred and George's careless yet careful way of aiming always slightly downwards when they stopped a Bludger and Angelina's loss of control when it came to fast veering.

I scribbled everything down as Marcus had asked me countless times before, and suddenly it was back: the _guilt_. Knowing you're doing the wrong thing but having no other option in the matter. I mentally cursed myself, the guilt spreading through every nerve in my body.

These were good people, nice people; people who played as a team because they enjoyed each other's company and because they love the sport. I knew Oliver's biggest dream was to win the Quidditch cup for his house, and yet here I was betraying the trust they had placed in me for the entirety of this day.

"Hailey?" Ron's voice stopped me in my thoughts. I looked u quickly, and hurriedly shoved the notebook in my pocket, hoping the red-head wouldn't have seen it. "What are you doing?"

"I was looking for a bathroom," I lied, "Guess there isn't any here. They should really think to build one. And a changing room too," I added with a fake smile, trying to make my story as believable as possible.

Ron didn't answer, he just kept his eyes on me as I walked towards him, and past him with a smile. I almost thought I was out of trouble when he said:

"You're lying."

I froze.

"I know you're up to something. I just don't know what yet," he spat. Whether he was angry or disappointed I couldn't tell, but my reaction was the one of a perfect snake.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Then I walked off, with a smirk dancing on my lips and a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach.


	10. Chapter 10

**WARNING! THIS ENTIRE CHAPTER IS IN GEORGE'S POINT OF VIEW. SORRY IF THIS IS BAD! I'M ONLY FULLY COMFORTABLE WITH HAILEY BUT FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE STORY I HAVE TO GET OUT OF MY COMFORT ZONE.**

We were casually walking through Diagon Alley, and by 'we' I mean the Gryffindor Quidditch team with the addition of Hailey, which for reasons I could not understand, was now part of the group. Since the practice match in which Hailey kicked our asses – though I don't like admitting it – the team had spent every day together, either training or walking around spots highly frequented by witches and wizards. The idea of dropping in on a muggle party had once been instigated but quickly put to the side after _yours truly_ caused a very amusing ruckus by spiking the drinks with babbling beverages. _I've never been more proud of myself…_

Oliver was talking about Quidditch, again, not to change. Though I'll admit I had given up on the conversation a while ago, staring straight in front of me at the strange phenomenon occurring before me. Alicia, Angelina and Katie were walking before us, surrounding Hailey whom seemed to have a grand ol' time, laughing and smiling constantly. I've always been told that women were meaner and more savage than men when it came to relationships. Betrayal was something that could not be permitted or forgiven in their strange universe, and yet there they were; trusting the enemy.

The girls turned around to look at us for a moment, before turning back around and giggling like children.

"What are they going on about now?" Fred wondered out loud.

"I wonder that as well," Oliver answered.

"Girls can be so weird," I said boringly, looking at their backs. They seemed to be chatting relentlessly, and I couldn't tell which one of them was actually speaking. _How do they do that_ , I wondered, _speaking all at the same time and yet understanding every word said within a conversation_.

"It seems Hailey has gotten well integrated to the group though," Oliver simply said after our little silence _. Why did he care?_

"Yes, I think that's a good thing. Other than Ginny and Hermione, Hailey had no one to talk to really," George shrugged. Oliver stopped in his tracks, forcing us to do the same and turn back to him with confusion on our faces.

"What do you mean?" Oliver looked at us.

"What?" Fred and I were confused. We looked at one another then back at Oliver, waiting for an answer.

"What about you two? Don't you talk to her? I mean, it's normal that she feels more comfortable around girls but Hermione and Ginny still are quite younger than her," Oliver seemed surprised that our relationship with Hailey wasn't that great. In fact, I was convinced that he'd be even more surprised if he knew the truth, that our relationship with Hailey was currently burning deep in hell. We weren't the ones that brought Hailey to the practice match, and if it had been up to me, she would have never even come to our house in the first place.

Everyone thought we would have immediately been friends, but how can that be after everything that happened. You can't force two people to come together, it doesn't work that way, especially when one of those two people is a cheating, lying Slytherin who's future is undoubtedly to betray everyone who loves her and join the dark lord in his quest for ultimate power.

Long story short, _I'm not a fan of hers_.

Oliver had been silent for a while now, and without another word, he just continued to walk. Fred and I looked back to one another before trailing behind our captain. I was half expecting him to give us sass about it but he didn't. I should have known better though, Oliver wasn't the type to get into competitive discussions or even fights unless it was on a Quidditch pitch.

"Hey!" my attention was removed from Oliver and onto Katie whom was standing in front of me. "Stop zoning out okay? Are you coming?" she asked. I just blinked, confused as to what was going on before being pulled by Katie into a small shop which turned out to be completely Quidditch related. Alicia and Angelina ran over to the broomstick section to look at the brand new models whilst Hailey was looking at some leather gloves. I observed her from the corner of my eye as Katie rambled on about something.

"George!" she said suddenly.

"Uh, what?" I grinned. She gazed over to Hailey quickly then rolled her eyes. "You have a real obsession you know that?"

"Sorry if I'm not as easily manipulated as you are," I simply mocked her. She punched my shoulder lightly and I didn't fail to fake being hurt overdramatically, which in turn made her laugh.

"Ever think that maybe she feels as strange being in your house as you do about her?"

"Nope, not even once," I answered quickly, pretending to be suddenly highly interested in whatever I was looking at. Pair of goggles, scrolls and kneepads, my eyes hadn't decided yet what to set upon.

"Well maybe you should," she remarked, picking up a wooden bat and handing it to me as if she was expecting a comment from me. She then turned and moved on to the next section of the small shop. I placed the bat back on the shelf without even taking a look at it and followed her. "She's a Slytherin sure, but she's suddenly been thrown in a house full of Gryffindors. She's got to feel out of place you know? Imagine what you'd do if you were forced to live in the Malfoy Mansion for a summer!"

"Well I'd probably be thinking that all those unforgivable spells might not be that bad…" I thought out loud. Katie giggled and shook her head.

"You're right, bad comparison. Sorry."

And with that the debate on Hailey ended. I left Katie to do her business, not that she bothered me. I regrouped with Fred and Oliver, whom where looking at Quidditch outfits.

"I was thinking we could freshen up the uniform for the next match," Oliver said absentmindedly.

"Can we do that?" Fred and I both asked before shaking our heads, realizing it wasn't in our nature to ask questions before doing whatever we had planned to do. We smirked at one another.

"I don't know," Oliver answered us and moved on, with us trailing behind him slowly.

Angelina comes around and pulls Fred and I to the side to show us some beater equipment and I notice Alicia joining Oliver, walking like a child with her hands behind her back. Those two were always so cute together and yet their relationship was purely platonic. I'm not sure when or what had caused Oliver to take on the role of older brother towards Alicia but that's how it was now, and everyone seemed okay with it. Then again, our team was like our own little side family. _Hailey must really feel left out…_ What that hell am I thinking?

"Aaah," Katie let out an annoyed moan, which caused the entire team to turn towards her and follow the direction of her gaze. Queue part of the Slytherin Quidditch team: Prick in making Theodore Nott, Playboy Adrian Pucey, and Kill me now Montague. This happy little troop followed obediently behind their leader, Bucktooth Marcus Flint. Marcus grinned when he saw us, like he knew he perspired annoyance and maleficence.

"Hailey…" Angelina murmured, taking a step forward before Olive stopped her.

"If anyone can handle the Slytherins, I think it's her don't you?" he said aloud. "We might make things worse by intervening."

We all watched from a discreet eye as Marcus strode over to Hailey with incommensurable pride in his step and gave that well known Slytherin smirk. I watched Hailey's reaction, as she seemed surprised and yet bothered to see him.

"Do you think she's okay?" asked Angelina.

"They're her friends. Of course she is," Fred answered her, yet I could feel he wasn't sure of what he was affirming. I watched as Marcus took her into his arms almost lovingly and how she tensed at the action.

"She's probably complaining about how she's being punished by having to stay with us," I stared at Fred.

And I watched, as soon as I turned back towards Hailey; I watched Theodore Nott, throw her into the stand behind her and laugh in victory as she winced painfully. I watched Adrian laugh and I watched Marcus murmur to her: _"Watch you step traitor."_


	11. Chapter 11

I was softly rubbing my lower back, appeasing the ache that resided there. I had a knot, a bad one. Maybe it was from the stress, but most probably, it was due to the fact Nott had thrown me in a bookcase. _That prick, he enjoyed it too._

I tried to hold back a wince but failed miserably. I looked into the mirror, watching with worry the purple bruise that was forming. I sighed. _What I wouldn't do…_

"Hailey? You okay?" my thoughts were interrupted.

"Fine," I responded coldly, trying my best to pretend I couldn't feel pain in this very instant when, let's be real, it was the only thing I felt.

"Would you like me to check?"

"Go away."

 _"_ _Well, well, well, look who it is," Montague said when the door flew open. I turned as I heard the bell of the shop go off, staring with anticipation and surprise as I saw part of the Slytherin Quidditch team._

 _"_ _Marcus?" I asked, raising a brow. I had spent the day being happy-friendly with the girls from the Gryffindor Quidditch team, though I think I should call them by their names, since we're now 'friends' or something of the sort. Marcus had said something about being friends with the girls first, seeing as that was, according to him, the most difficult part of the job. Clearly, he's never tried to be friends with Weasleys. They might not be great with magic but… and even then; I don't think it applies to the elder redheads. Percy's a pretty smart guy isn't he?_

 _"_ _Hello princess, everything been going the way you've been hoping?" Marcus gave me his usual smirk._

 _"_ _No." I turned away from him, pretending to be occupied with the items on the shelf. "But I guess that's expected when even your_ _friends_ _lie to you about going on vacation to Greece."_

 _"_ _I didn't mean to offend you love, but I really need you to do this one thing for me," Marcus simply responded, rejecting any of the blame I was trying to push onto him._

 _"_ _The strats I know. I've already told you it's not that simple." I pinched the bridge of my nose._

 _"_ _That's exactly why we're here princess!" Adrian smiled and hugged me from behind. "We're actually here to help, can you believe that?"_

 _"_ _Actually I can't, "I pushed away from him and crossed my arms in front of my chest, resting my weight onto my left leg. Slytherins don't help each other, they gloat in the glory and shame the weak, I'm well placed to know that._

 _I hummed lowly, and moved to the next shelf of Quidditch related items, which were of no use to me, or interesting in the slightest. And yet I was capable of pouring my entire attention to them as if they were the most interesting things in the world. I guess when you want to get away from someone you're capable of anything, huh?_

 _"_ _See there's one problem with the Gryffindor pride, they're weak to others in need. They have this incommensurable need to help those who have less than they do." Marcus trailed behind me, way to close to my liking._

 _"_ _Since when do you know how to use words like 'incommensurable'," I asked, not even looking back towards him and trailing my fingers along a small wooden bat exposed before me. Suddenly, Marcus grabbed my wrist and tightened his grip, forcing me to look at him._

 _"_ _Listen here princess," his voice was full of venom. "You better be a good little girl and do as you're told without thinking too highly of yourself. I ain't mean, but I could be, you know that right?" His voice made my entire body shiver with what I could only shamefully describe as fear._

 _"_ _Apparently you're pitiful enough to attract their attention, or Wood's at least," Theodore added on the same frightening tone, although it had much less impact than Marcus. I would have glared towards him but I was lost in Marcus Flint's eyes. What sort of sex appeal he lost with those monstrous teeth of his, he made up for with his eyes. So deep and shiny with pride, beautiful eyes really._

 _"_ _H-how would you know?" I managed._

 _"_ _We heard a conversation between him and his lapdog Bell," Montague added, reminding me that I heard very little come out of his mouth throughout the year. We weren't particularly friends, but he was part of Marcus's gang so I had assumed I would see a lot more of him; but no. He was a pretty discreet guy actually, which no one seemed to care about as long as he remained a good Quidditch player._

 _"_ _See princess," Marcus lowered my wrist, still holding it whilst his other hand went to my waist, pulling me towards him. I placed my free hand on his chest, body tense as he continued to whisper in my ear: "We care about you."_

 _With a voice like silk, I believed his lies._

 _"_ _W-what do you want me to do?"_

 _"_ _Play the victim love, make them pity you. Make them feel so bad about the way you're being treated that they'll want to make you feel better. Oliver will be an easy thing to do, he already thinks like that…" Marcus explained calmly._

 _"_ _But the Weasleys," Montague argued, looking towards the primary interested. "They'll be a bitch to convince." Well he had a mouth to him didn't he?_

 _"_ _I can fix that," Theodore offered suddenly, a smirk onto his lips. Marcus pulled away from me and nodded._

 _"_ _Do what you need to Nott."_

 _"_ _Wha-"_

 _I wasn't allowed to finish my sentence as Theodore Nott pushed me harshly into the bookcase behind me, making a few of the article fall beside me. I tried to contain my emotions but the surprise took over, and I let out a pitiful yelp of pain. I looked surprised towards Theodore, whom I could tell with that horrible smirk on his face, was greatly enjoying how his day was turning out to be._

 _"_ _Stay down, it's better for you," Theodore warned me. I simply looked at him, powerless. They all grinned, laughed and walked out, only leaving Marcus and I together._

 _"_ _Remember what I said, you have a be a victim." He said in my ear before standing back up. "Watch your step, traitor."_

 _I know the others had seen it, all of it. It was so clear that it was staged, and yet they believed everything. Every word and every action._

 _"_ _Hailey!" Katie rushed towards me, helping me to stand._

 _"_ _Are you okay?" Angelina asked right after. I winced as she put her hand on my lower back, making her remove it immediately. "Sorry!"_

 _"_ _I'll be fine, I'll be fine," I kept repeating, trying to reassure both them and myself. I knew I wasn't going to be, I wanted to cry all the tears in my body. And as one pierced the barrier I thought I had created for myself, I watched as the Weasley twins approached me, with almost worry in their eyes._

 _And then I felt it again, the anger, the guilt, and the inexplicable desire to do everything possible to get things to return to the way they once were._

The door opened against my will, and my tear stained gaze locked onto the person I wanted to see least: George Weasley.

"I told you to leave," I spat, lowering my shirt immediately to cover my tummy and back and pulling my legs towards my chest. He sighed and leaned over me.

"I want to help," he said slowly, grabbing my arm. I forcefully pulled away from him.

"Don't touch me!" I was angry. "You don't want to help, you're just trying to make yourself feel better about being an ass!"

"Hailey."

"You should make up your mind! One day you tell me to fuck the hell out of your house and the next you feel bad about me getting shunned by my only friends, simply because I'm being forced to stay here, with you," my words were like venom, I knew that. But there is always a limit to the amount of crap you can take before you explode in beautiful thunder of insults and hatred. I had reached that limit. I was very good at taking on emotional abuse, but physical, that wouldn't do. And when you mix both, it's a recipe for disaster.

George looked at me, almost emotionlessly but didn't answer.

"You hate me," I continued. "You don't even who or what I am, what I want to be, what I aspire to be. You know nothing, nothing but your own stupid way of thinking. I hate you! I hate your house! I hate the fact that I'm stuck here with you people whom can think about nothing else than those stupid Houses. We're not in goddamn school! Why should it matter whether I'm Slytherin or not? You wouldn't give me this much crap if I came from BeauxBatons would you?"

I was crying, and what's worse it that I was aware of it. I couldn't do anything, not a damn thing. The anger was turning into sadness; sadness in front of my own weakness, my own incompetence and my soon to be mistakes. I was aware of it. I was aware that doing exactly was Marcus wanted was bad and yet I wanted to do it. I wanted to be _bad_ , I wanted to be something other than just the Slytherin wasn't supposed to be there. I wanted; I **_needed_** to prove myself.

And then I did what I never thought I would do in front of George Weasley. I told him the truth: "I never asked to be put in Slytherin you know? It's just the way things are. I adapted."

After my little outburst, after the surge of adrenaline flowing through my veins, I suddenly felt little, scared and almost naked in front of this boy I barely knew. My eyes shifted to the floor. I heard shuffling and suddenly felt something warm onto my cheek, brushing away the tears. My head was pulled back up, but I kept my eyes shut. I didn't want to cry anymore, but I couldn't seem to stop.

"Hailey," the voice was calm and comforting. "Please look at me."

Reluctantly, I opened my eyes only to stare in the worried ones of the redhead before me.

"Please don't cry. I'm sorry."

I stayed, frozen, eyes locking into George's and his hand on my cheek. I didn't know what to think, nor what to say. I was feeling uneasy and yet so comfortable at the same time. I swallowed with difficulty and continued to stare at him.

"G-george?"

He suddenly pulled away and stood back up, passing a hand through his hair. He stayed for a second, looking away from me, before turning around and walking out.

I was left alone, with a confused feeling in the pit of my stomach, a bad pain in my lower back and a feeling like I had just shared a moment with George goddamn Weasley.


	12. Chapter 12

Yesterday was mostly a blur. I faintly remembered being found crying in the bathroom by Ginny, whom seemed decided to help me with my bruise even though she didn't know how I had gotten it. She didn't ask though, and I was grateful for that. I tried thinking back to my little altercation with George, the things I said, the pain I felt… but all I could remember, all I could see once I'd close my eyes were his eyes, so deep, brown and beautiful. _Wait… what?_

Today however, I remembered very well. I woke up with a pain so intense I couldn't stand on my own, and after Ginny helped me out of my pjs and into some decent clothes, we had both walked downstairs to get our breakfast, welcomed warmly by the smell of pancakes and Mrs. Weasley.

Everything had gone well until then; until George and I were forced to sit in front of one another, occasionally sharing confused and embarrassed stares. Why was this happening? What exactly had happened?

George hated me, and I had to get past that to make him my _friend_. You know, when you're sure of something, so much so that when that idea starts to crumble you begin to imagine your entire world being thrown upside down. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do now, or how I was supposed to feel but there was this little voice at the back of my head that was telling me I could use this situation to my advantage.

"Hailey, would you like another pancake?" I looked up to see the redheads' mother staring right at me, spatula in one hand and a pan in the other; wide smile on her plump face. I smiled and nodded. Who could resist pancakes?

"I'm done, I'm leaving the table alright mom?" George said suddenly, looking away from me. Before even getting a response, he stood and walked off. Fred looked surprised, following his brother as he escaped out of the kitchen.

"What did you do to him?" he asked suddenly, turning to me. I stopped chewing on my pancake and looked up, surprised and confused.

"Fred!" Mrs Weasley stopped him.

"That's quite an accusation," Percy added, taking my defense. I swallowed slowly, already cutting the next piece of waffle I was going to eat, dragging it through syrup with my fork.

"Now why would you assume I did anything to him?" I asked plainly, biting down on the delicious piece of food before me. Fred frowned. I knew he wasn't very fond of my utterly bored way of answering.

"Whenever something goes wrong in this house nowadays you always seem to be the direct cause of it," Fred copied my tone.

"Now I feel insulted!" I feigned hurt, placing a hand onto my chest and opening my eyes wide.

"Fred Weasley! You apologize right now young man!" Molly angrily turned to him. When I noticed I was out of her sight, focused on her son whom muttered a poor form of forced apology, I took the opportunity to stick my tongue out at the twin: childish yes, but so fun! Once Molly Weasley turned back to her cooking, I licked my lips and smirked.

"You should learn to watch your tongue," I threatened low enough so his mother wouldn't hear me. Before he was able to retort, I continued. "It was truly delicious Mrs Weasley, would you mind if I left the table?"

"Of course not dear! Go ahead," Molly smiled at me. I excused myself and left the room with a content smile on my face. I always did love having the last word. Walking back up the stairs, gloating in my own little victory over Fred Weasley, I suddenly remembered I had reading to catch up on; on of the perks – is it really though?—of being friends with Hermione Granger I guess.

I returned to Ginny and I's shared room, rummaging through the mess on the desk to find exactly the book I had been meaning to read.

Today was meant to be a slow day, nothing too grandiose planned, so I figured I might as well take the day off, to treat myself sort of speak. 'I could really do with a long, hot, bath,' I thought to myself, smile on my face as my body moved on it's own, legs trekking towards the bathroom.

Once I arrived, I shut the door and sat on the side of the bathtub, turning on the warm water and letting slowly fill up the tub. I enchanted some salt I had taken with me to have a nice, lilac odor and threw them in the water, letting them dissolve for a bit. Slowly, the bath filled with a purplish color, steaming. I smiled, content.

Placing my book on my seating spot, I slowly undressed myself, dropping the clothes in the corner of the bathroom in a messy pile. Once undressed, I slowly let myself slip in the bath and sighed out in relief. I was suddenly surrounded by warm water and purple soap bubbles that created some semblance of cloud floating above the water. I reached for my book, safely resting on the side of the tub and enchanted it to float above me with a simple spell.

Whilst I tried concentrating on my book, my mind couldn't help but wander of to different lands. I can't say I was unhappy with my life, but in my time of reflecting I found that maybe, just maybe, a part of me might want to hurt the Weasley's because I was jealous. They had a close, bounded family and friends with unstoppable loyalty. In this moment, although I had everything I needed and was comfortable in my bath, I felt alone. My parents barely ever taking any care of me, my friends using me…

For a second I held back a tear. I wasn't going to cry, _I am stronger than that_! And unconsciously my mind wondered to George. _Why am I even thinking about him? It's not like it's my fault he's a little… I shouldn't think that word._

If I had thought my attempt at having a good, peaceful day was being ruined by my unsubordinated mind, I hadn't seen the worst bursting into the bathroom—causing me to shriek might I add! I moved into a sitting, fetal position, covering myself as best as I could, thanking the purple cloud of enchanted bath salts floating over the water.

"Get the fuck out!" I cursed. "The hell you think you're doing?"

"Fix him." Fred looked me dead in the eye. I had never felt more angry and self-conscious than this very moment.

"Get out!"

"Fix him!" Fred continued. "Whatever you did you have to fix it!"

"Fred!" I screeched. Suddenly it seemed to the redhead had finally realized his mistake. He gaped for a second before shutting the door and turning towards it.

"I'm not living through this am I?" he asked lowly. I growled.

"Probably not. Especially since you're still in here!"

"I'm not leaving until you do something."

I sighed in defeat and waited for a while. Neither Fred nor I dared to move. I checked to make sure he was still facing the door and slowly climbed out of the bath, quickly grabbing a towel and wrapping it around myself.

"Alright," I tapped his shoulder, meaning he could turn back around, which he did hesitantly. "I didn't do nothing you know…"

"He's been acting weird since you got here, like he's not himself anymore," Fred explained to me. I raised a brow. "He's just… how to say this…" he rubbed the back of his head. "You know how we're not always nice to you?"

"Hadn't noticed," I said coldly.

"I mean, we're not friends."

"Clearly."

"And you being here against our will is just, it seems unfair you know?" Fred said.

"Ever thought maybe I didn't want to be here either?" I asked him, calming down now. "My own friends bully me for being here."

"Ever thought they might not be actual friends?"

This really was the time for strange Weasley interactions wasn't it? Fred didn't answer that question, and once again we settled into silence. I looked to him, realizing how tall he actually was, maybe just a centimeter over George. He had the same bright eyes as his brother, usually twinkling with mischief but now darkened by what I could only guess was just pure exhaustion. Exhaustion of this situation we had been in. Fighting is really tiring when you think about it. Fighting because you're simply different from someone else even more so.

"Will you please just try talking to him?"

"Will you leave me alone if I do?"

"Want to start over?"

I considered it. I fact, I couldn't believe I was even considering it! I opened my mouth to speak, then everything happened in slow motion. I wasn't even quite sure what my answer was going to be when the bathroom door was thrown open and the both of us turned towards the person on the other side.

George stared at the both of us; Fred in his normal clothes, and me in nothing but a towel. "Uh…" he stuttered. I gaped, unsure of what to say. Fred looked at his brother with the same, confused look as I did before saying: "George?"

He said nothing, simply walked off leaving the bathroom door open. I kept my eyes wide open, frozen in space.

"F-fred?"

"Bloody hell," he sighed, face-palming. "I'm just going to go…"

"Y-yeah… Maybe that's better."

 _Someone please get me out of this madhouse…_


	13. Chapter 13

I had been standing in front of this door for way too long, playing with the hem of my shirt. I couldn't get myself to knock. Why couldn't I get myself to knock?

Even if he wasn't even anywhere near me, I could basically hear Fred talking in my head: " _Go on then, what are you waiting for? Are you a Slytherin or not? What do you mean that doesn't have anything to do with it? Gryffindors are the ones who are brave? Does that mean Slytherins are scardy-cats?_ ".

"Hailey?" Are you okay?"

"I…" I wasn't quite sure what the answer was. "I think so."

I kept my eyes to the ground. The door had opened before I was prepared to knock, before I had prepared anything to say and now I was feeling like a fool under the confused gaze of the better twin – I wasn't much considerate of Fred in this particular situation.

"What are you doing?"

"I…" It was a mystery to me, how suddenly, out of nowhere; I couldn't get my thoughts sorted out. "I'm not sure." I responded, my voice weak. My heart was racing and yet my mind was empty. I just felt like something was wrong and I couldn't understand why. "I'm going to go," I told George, turning around and walking back towards Ginny's room. I heard Fred sighing inside my head.

"Hailey," George's voice made me stop.

"Yeah?" I spoke softly, turning to meet his brown eyes.

"Never mind," George said after a moment, running a hand through his hair. I kept my eyes on him, wondering if he'd add something to that last statement but nothing happened. After a couple seconds, which honestly felt like hours, I turned back and hurried to Ginny's room.

"What the hell is wrong with me?" I sighed, placing my head in my hands.

"Don't take this the wrong way but I've been wondering the exact same thing for a while now," Ginny's voice echoed in my head. She was sitting at her desk; working on whatever homework she had given herself, or gotten from Hermione. I looked around for a weapon of revenge and, setting my eyes on her pillow, threw it right at the back of her head.

"Ouch!" she laughed, turning towards me. I saw her reach for the pillow, and simply ran out of the room. "Come back here!" Ginny yelled behind me. I hurried down the corridor and jumped the stairs four by four, reaching the first floor as fast as possible. I ran behind a couch, using it as cover from Ginny's next attack. She arrived at the bottom of the stairs shortly after me and hurried towards me. We both ran around the couch like children, earning strange glances from Percy whom was calmly reading the newspaper from his chair.

"I'm going to get you, you slimy Slitherin!" she yelled, throwing me the pillow. I caught it mid air and immediately threw it back at her.

"You'll have to try harder than that dumb Gryffindor!" I snapped. Percy laughed in the background.

"Nooo!" Ginny pretended to die and threw herself onto the couch. "She got me, Percy help!"

"I am not taking part of this…" the elder Wealsey simply replied.

"What? You won't save your little sister? What kind of a brother are you?" Ginny faked a cry. I was still hiding behind the couch, laughing helplessly at Percy's calm reactions compared to Ginny's exaggerated ones.  
Suddenly I felt a pair of arms wrap around my waist and pull me backwards. I couldn't help but let out a yelp of surprise.

"I'll avenge you Ginny!" Fred called from behind me, lifting me in the air.

"Nooo!" I laughed as he tickled my sides, trying to wiggle out of his grasp. "My greatest weakness!"

"Tickles!" Ginny cheered from her place on the couch, throwing her arms and legs in the air. I reached for one of the pillows on the closest couch and began to hit Fred on the head with it, begging him to stop his torture.

"Never!" the red head responded.  
We all laughed like children, and in this moment, I could honestly say I felt like part of the family. I didn't why Fred was suddenly being nice, or how this had all happened, but somehow I was glad it did. It honestly made me smile.

"What are you doing?"

The voice was so cold… It made all of us stop completely and raise our gazes towards the top of the stairs, where George stood with a confused look on his face.

"Uhm," Ginny was trying to kill me.

"But she got me first," Ginny continued.

"And I defended our sister," Fred finished the explanation.  
Without another word, George just sighed and walked back up the stairs. I bit my lower lip and looked back towards Ginny, whom also looked guilty for some reason.

"Well, that was awkward," Fred just **had** to point it out, finally letting go of me.

"Yeah…"

"Well… I'm going back to my book," Ginny declared, standing from the couch.

"Let me help you with that," I responded without thinking.

"I don't need help with reading…"

"Shut up," I pushed her towards the stairs. I don't know if it was my clear uneasiness of just my overall presence but I was met with a compliant "Ok", and we both ruched up the stairs.

For once, I didn't feel like a total outcast in this house… and I have to say, feeling like I have a caring family was pretty good.

 **I'm so sorry this is so short and nothing really happens… To be honest it's more of a filler to show the evolution of Hailey's relationships… also, this might make you pumped for the actual chapter I'll post this weekend!  
Here's a little preview for y'all :** Hailey and Katie have a lengthy conversation about the Slytherin's relationship with the Malfoy family and the Weasley twins before forcing her to spend an afternoon with George in hopes that this will fix their latest issues.  
 **I'd tell you more but that would spoil the surprise ;)**


	14. Chapter 14

"Is this all you do?" I asked as we walked down the eternally buzzing streets of Diagon Alley. "Send mail to one another and go shopping?" I quickly ducked to avoid getting hit by the back of a broomstick laying on someone's shoulder.

"Well, yes," Angelina told me, pulling me towards her suddenly so I wouldn't accidentally walk into a grumpy looking house elf.

"Sorry miss clumsy pants but we aren't all rich enough to spend the summer in each other's mansions like you Slytherins!" Katie popped up beside me, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"We don't all have mansions…" I began, earning a raised eyebrow from both girls. "Well maybe most of us do," I admitted. "But it's not our fault we were born in rich pureblood families!" I raised my hands in the air.

"Oh my," Angelina gasped.

"You did not just say that," Katie looked at me.

"What? It's true isn't it?! Stop looking at me like I just insinuated that pureblood families are better than other families, that's not what I said!" I defended myself.

"Well she speaks like a true Slytherin," Katie ignored me and looked over to Angelina.

"Yes but I don't get the high and mighty vibe of the Slytherins, you know, like Malfoy gives off so well," Angelina answered Katie, still ignoring me. I scoffed.

"That's because Malfoy is a stuck up brat with a broomstick up his ass."

"Never mind, here she is!" Angelina placed a hand on my shoulder.

"You guys are awful."

The both laughed and we resumed our normal walk, each lost in our thoughts.

"Is Malfoy really hated in his own house?" Angeline suddenly asked, breaking the silence.

"Don't look so shocked. There aren't many people who genuinely appreciate the Malfoy family," I simply stated the truth. I felt slightly bad talking so badly about such a nice woman as Narcissa Malfoy whom had offered countless times to take care of me when my parents could not, but I felt as though it was the right thing to say in the crowd of Potter lovers.

"You're not wrong," Katie simply shrugged. "You know what I heard?" her eyes suddenly illuminated. Angelina smiled with glee, glad to hear new gossip from her Quidditch comrade. I waited without saying a knowing, knowing perfectly well this question was rhetorical.

"Well I heard that Malfoy's big bad daddy is a Death Eater working for You-Know-Who!"

Angelina gasped at the 'revelation' whilst I simply shivered.

"You shouldn't be surprised considering the tendency of Slytherins becoming death eaters," George piped in from behind us. I turned to look at him, slightly hurt but he completely avoided my gaze. Angelina and Katie both seemed surprised at his outburst as well, as this comment set a cold silence upon us. I sighed.

"Well someone _has_ to be the bad guy right?" I retorted, moving faster to loose George. Katie hurried after me and we stopped at a small shop and pretended to be interested by whatever was exposed outside.

"Rough," Katie finally said. "Are you okay?"

"Are you kidding? I love jumping between being loved and hated by those two idiotic red-heads!" I angrily responded. "I'm just really tired of all this."

"I'm sorry," Katie patted my back.

"Thanks," I smiled softly towards her, although deep down I was still hurt by George's accusation. I couldn't for the life of me understand what was going on inside their heads. They acted like assholes, then were friendly because I got bullied by my own 'friends' and now they're acting like assholes again! What's up with that? And people say Slitherins are moody but hell, they should really spend a day with this crazy ass family!

"How aren't any of you going insane?" my thoughts suddenly came out loud for everyone – Katie—to hear.

"Huh?" She turned her head to me, looking surprised.

"No offense, but you spend so much time together at school, and now here… Isn't the holiday supposed to be about taking a break from all of that?" I asked, looking at something on display.

"Well when you actually get along with your friends you don't mind spending this much time with them," Katie answered on an accusatory tone, like I had said the most outrageous thing in the world.

"Ouch," I feigned hurt. There was a small silence that set between the both of us as Katie pushed out her annoyance with me before she began speaking once more: "I think we're just all doing it for Oliver to be honest."

"Wood?"

"Hm," she smiled playing with a miniature figurine of some probably famous Quidditch player between her fingers. "It's going to be his last year and he knows better than anyone that he needs to win this Quidditch season to get noticed by an actual team. If he does, then he'll be training all of next summer and we won't see each other anymore. He just wants to spend more time with us, and we're not going to say no to that face are we now?"

"Little crush there Katie?" I giggled.

"No!" she defended herself quickly. "But go ahead and tell me you don't find him attractive at all!"

"Me?" I pointed to myself, "I will never in my proud Slytherin state will I ever admit that Oliver Wood is attractive!" I declared, raising my head high. Katie laughed at my reaction.

"But he is though," she murmured as we moved away from the store we were standing in front of.

"Yeah, he is."

She turned to me, mouth agape and we both started laughing helplessly.

"Were is George?" Fred asked looking around. We had all decided to go home, but not before getting some sort of beverage – my mind was set on butter beer.

"He's you twin, can't you telepathically call him or something?" Angelina said, elbowing Fred.

"That's not how that works love," he wrapped an arm around her and I swear I would see her blush. I turned to Katie and raise a brow whilst she just shrugged.

"Alright, who's going back to fetch him?"

"Fred should go, it's his brother after all," I said boringly, thinking of the sweet taste that butter beer would leave in my mouth.

"I think the Slytherin should go just for that," Fred replied, sending a glare my way.

"So do I!" Katie raised her hand suddenly. I turned to her and mouthed ' _traitor'_.

"Well Hailey, how about it?" Oliver looked to me, quite annoyed. He clearly was torn between forcing me to go to spend time with his friends instead of looking for our lost puppy and the bad feeling he would get for actually forcing me to do something I wasn't keen on doing.

George has been awful to me recently, he could stay lost in this damn alley for all I cared, but then again, Katie's words kept ringing in my head: ' _If he does, then he'll be training all of next summer and we won't see each other anymore._ ' I sighed in defeat.

"Fine, I'll go get him," I turned around, raising my hands in the air. "But you better save me a drink!"

"Will do!" Katie and Angelina waved me away with smiled on their faces.

I looked around every shop we had previously stopped by, searching for a distinctive red head but so far I was still empty handed. Just as I was beginning to think I might as well give up, invent a lame excuse I'd give to Fred and get to drinking delicious butter beer I saw something in the corner of my eye which made me sigh.

There he was, standing completely still in front of what I could tell was an abandoned building.

"Where the hell where you?" I exclaimed, reaching behind him. "I've been looking everywhere for you!"

Seeing as I got no response, I delicately tapped his shoulder. "George?"

"So you care about my well being now?" he simply answered coldly, moving forward towards the building. I glared but followed him, entering the place when he pushed the door open and disappeared inside it.

"I'm a Slytherin, not a god-damn monster George!" I defended myself, completely ignoring my surroundings.

"Who would have known?"

"I've had it with you!" I roughly grabbed his wrist and stopped it in his motion. "I've done nothing for you to be acting like such a jerk!"

No response.

"When I though we were finally, sort of, in our weird way getting along you just turned your back to me again, and started acting like a complete jackass! Not only that but everyone's noticed it! What the hell is wrong with you?" I yelled at him. The time he turned to me.

"Wrong with me? Me? It's you who did this! I finally decide to trust you and open up and what you do is go run to Fred!"

"Fred? What? What's he got to do with any of this?" I asked, completely confused. My mind was going 100 miles per hour, searching every corner for an indication of what George was saying, but nothing was coming to me. Fred? When did I ever go running to Fred? I hated Fred! He was annoying, forceful and basically interfered with everything I did, including my bath-times.

…

…

Oh.

I sighed deeply. "Why is it that when I finally get along with one of you, a dumb fight starts with the other?"

Silence. I saw George run his hand through his hair and turn to face me whilst I continued to stare at the floor. I wasn't sure what to say to end this strange conversation. I looked around me for a second, noticing the boarded up windows which only let small rays of light through, old stairs leading to an upstairs area in as bad of a state as the ground floor, and old wooden planks laying around everywhere.

"So, where are we exactly?" I finally asked.

"Number 93," George answered casually. I raised my head to stare at him incredulously.

"And I'm supposed to know what that is?"

"No," he laughed. "Right now it's nothing, as you can see," I nodded at his statement. "But one day, this place will be called Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes!"

"Weasley…" I trailed off, repeating slowly what he had told me. "What?

"Here," George looked around, grabbing my hand and guided me towards the center of the room. "Close your eyes," he said, placing both hands in front of my eyes. I smiled and placed my hands atop his.  
"Alright, make me dream Weasley," I dared him.  
"Imagine stairs in front of you, and wardrobes there, stands of love potions in that corner and candies in bags over there," George shared his world with me. I smiled even though I had no idea what he was talking about. When he was done with his rant, he removed his hands from my eyes and I turned to face him.  
"Can you see it?" he asked. I giggled.

"Not really. Not yet anyways, but sooner or later I will right?" I asked, looking around.  
"Yeah," George answered, staring at me. I smiled towards him, realizing suddenly how our fingers were still intertwined. I stared at our hands with a small blush on my cheeks.

"George?" I asked, looking up and locking my eyes with his.

"Hm?"

"Can we please stop fighting?" I asked, unsure of what the answer would be. He nodded slowly, smiling. On of his hands reached to cup my cheek, and suddenly I couldn't think about anything else than the rapid beat of my heart, the beautiful brown of his eyes and the smell of him as a whole. I wanted to be near him, I felt the urge to pull him towards me and never let go. Everything about him was enticing.

"George?" the sudden outburst from an unknown voice made us jump away fro one another and I turned to watch the intruder whom had a smirk on his face. "Sorry, am I interrupting something?"

 _Fred Weasley you are a dead man!_


	15. Chapter 15

**First of all! Thanks for the 300 likes! That's awesome! Secondly, I'm sorry this is just… not good. Well you'll see I guess. But still… sorry.**

I was hurt—and what's worse is that I wasn't even sure why? Since we returned from Diagon Alley yesterday, George had done everything in his power to evade any sort of social interaction with me, whilst Fred always walked around with that annoying smirk on his face – like he was goddamn proud of the situation.

I had felt something, I hated admitting it but it was the truth. I had been myself, opened up and tried to end our drama and now I was being completely and utterly ignored.

I breathed in slowly, the smell of fresh bread reaching my nose. It was amazing how even so high up in Ginny's room we could still smell the food Mrs Weasley prepared in the kitchen on the ground floor. I thought about getting up for a second, just motivated by my stomach but my brain took over – _you don't actually want to see anyone do you?_ I then decided to groan and roll over in my bed, pulling the blanket up to my nose.

"Oh no!" I heard from the doorway. "You're not staying in bed all day!"

"You're not my mother," I replied quite bluntly, shutting my eyes as if it would make everything disappear around me. I just wanted to sleep, at least five more minutes, or forever – I hadn't quite decided that yet.

"Good thing too," Ginny responded quickly making me wonder where she got her sass from. She was a snarky kid sometimes, which didn't seem to collate with the rest of the family traits. "You'd be miserable if I was your mother, I'd be on your case 24/7!" Ginny continued, pulling the blanket away from my form. The cold made me shiver unwillingly.

"Can't be worse than my actual mother who's never around," I said, sitting up onto the small mattress and wrapping my arms around myself. I felt a cold silence set between the two of us, and raised my gaze only to see Ginny staring at the ground, playing with the blanket in her hands. "Liven up will you?"

This was my small attempt at reassuring her; that my comment wasn't a sad attempt at having her feel pity for me. I didn't want that, I didn't want her thinking I'm some poor little kid whose parents don't love. I'm probably exaggerating. I'm sure my parents love me, and not only because they've told me more than a hundred times. I just believe they have a different way of showing it than the Weasley family.

"I'll be downstairs," Ginny said, turning around and walking out. I got up against my will, fighting out of my warm pajamas and into a pair of shorts and a plain top, before walking downstairs to join the rest of the Weasley children.

"Where's your mum?" I asked to no one in particular, realizing someone was missing from the room.

"She went to see someone," I was surprised to hear Ron answer my question. I nodded, feeling his tone meant ' _no further questions please'_.

"Your owl brought in some mail this morning," Percy said, reaching to the furniture behind him, grabbing three envelopes, which he gave me. I smiled, taking them from his hand and sitting at the table, already halfway to opening the first envelope.

"Thanks."

I breathed in slowly, taking in as much air as my lungs possibly could. I wasn't particularly driven to do this, but I felt as though this was a necessary evil.

I opened the letter slowly, careful as not to rip the delicate parchment folded inside.

 _Dearest Hailey,_

 _I have heard from Molly you haven't quite been getting along with her oldest sons. I hope your behavior will change soon. We don't want word of my daughter being disrespectful to travel to unwanted ears. You were raised better than this. Behave yourself._

 _Your mother and I have travelled to Romania for the weekend, meeting a dragon trainer; a simple boy, but good at his job. Your mother is advancing in her writings. Her book might be ready to be published by the end of the summer. You could write to congratulate her._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Dad._

I sighed, annoyed. My father always had the gift to destroy any beautiful thing, even fatherly love and concern for his child. My family truly was nothing like the Weasleys: their strength comes in their bonds, which is a beautiful form of love. In my family, we're prouder of our accomplishments than our relatives, which probably explains why my parents where so proud when I was put in Slytherin.

' _It's the House that makes the strongest wizards_ ,' my mother had smiled, explaining the event to her coworkers.

I felt a gaze setting onto my form and turned to Percy. I smiled towards him, shaking my head to make him understand everything was fine. He nodded and turned back towards his plate.

All of the Weasley children were sat at the dinner table, eating breakfast, which was constituted of fresh bread and waffles, being passed around on floating plates. Harry and Hermione had somehow arrived while I was sleeping and where currently arguing with Ron and Ginny about some muggle stuff I wasn't interested about. Fred and George were being awfully silent, _what else is new?_

The second letter came from Marcus but it was the third that caught my attention. The person had written his name in a surprisingly beautiful handwriting. I smiled reading it: _Terence Higgs_. Well isn't this a surprise?

 _Dear Hailey,_

 _How is everything going? Here everything is normal, summer is boring without you._

 _Marcus says you're a traitor, and that you'll fail whatever he asked of you because he thinks you're getting too attached to the Gryffindors. Is he right? I don't want to believe him._

 _Just so you know, I don't actually care if you're friends with them but the others don't agree. They say Gryffindors are the bottom of the food chain and that if you fail us you'll be treated like them._

 _I'm worried for you, please just do as Marcus asked._

 _Terence._

"Is everything ok?" George pulled my eyes away from the parchment. I blinked – so you're speaking to me now? Why?

That's when I noticed how wet my eyes had suddenly become. Was I on the brink of tears?

"Sure, sure!" I lied. No, it's not okay. Nothing is ok. "Sorry," I cleared my throat. "I'm not hungry anymore." I shot up, moving away from the table and hurrying out of the kitchen, back to Ginny's room. I threw Terence's letter onto my bed, along with the one Marcus had written. I couldn't get myself to even think about opening it.

I was scared, helplessly scared. My entire world was going to collapse as soon as the school year would once again start. I would be thrown off my pedestal and become like… like… Jill. No! I wouldn't be able to stand it, the constant hostility, the constant pushes and shoves, the constant loneliness. I can't do that; I'm not strong enough to hold all that pain on my shoulders. I can't… I…

"Hailey?" a hand was softly placed on my shoulder but my initial reaction was to jump and push it off roughly.

"Don't touch me!"

I turned to face George whom looked like he was suddenly worried – _oh so you care now?_ I stared at him, unbelievably confused. My mind was racing, so was my heart, and I wanted nothing more than to crawl in a corner and cry myself into a timeless nap.

"Hailey, you need to calm down," George said, placing both hands on my shoulders now. "I think you're having a panic attack. I everything alright?"

"Alright?" I laughed in distress. "No! Everything is not alright!"

"Breathe, we'll figure this out," he tried to be as calm as possible. I once again pushed his hands off of me.

"Figure it out?" I said. "No, we're not! And why the hell are you so concerned all of a sudden?"

"I care-"

"Do you? You have a really strange way of showing that! Ignoring me and all but don't worry, I'm used to it! My parents are never around, and sooner or later no one else will be!"

"Hailey-" George stayed perfectly still, trying to calm me down from my breakdown. I couldn't think straight. I was scared, angry and suddenly very hurt. I just wanted to get back at this person who hurt me, get back at everyone for that matter. Unfortunately for George, he would be the one taking on all my pain and sorrow.

"Admit it! When this horrible holiday is over we're never talking to each other again! I'm going back to my life, and you are to yours. The only difference is that I'll be the black sheep and be miserable while you continue to harass and hate me!" I was speaking nonsense. I knew I was but my mouth was moving on its own. The fear was stronger than anything else. I couldn't control my thoughts. My breath was ragged and rushed, and I had begun trembling.

"You need to calm down!" he grabbed my wrist, roughly this time and I instantly winced.

"George!" Fred was at the door, Ginny by his side. "Let go of her."

Ginny pushed her brother aside, entering the room and pulling me to her and away from George. She wrapped her arms around me, hugging me tightly and whispering words of comfort in my ears. I heard Hermione enter the room and push the twins out.

"She needs to be alone right now," she told George, as if that was a reasonable excuse to get him out.

"That's why you're staying with her?" George angrily said.

"We're better fit to help," Hermione responded. Her tone was slightly condescending but in reality, she was correct. I just needed someone else, someone who'd maybe understand. I needed to think, I needed time… But worst of all, I needed to fix myself.

 **I hate this chapter, it's so bad and cringey but I can't get it to go how I want. I've written it like four times before deciding to post this. Well… not everything can be perfect. Also I'm very much like Hailey right now, exams and all: plenty of stress and panic attacks. Yeah… See ya!**


	16. Chapter 16

I don't know when I got back to my normal state of mind. The only thing I know is that when I woke up, Ginny and Hermione were sprawled onto Ginny's bed, both asleep. I smiled at their initial cuteness, and then realized I was in dire need of water – _you know, as people are eventually_. I stretched my arms and my back before standing up from the bed. I moved out of the bedroom, slowly and quietly, being careful as to not make any noise to wake up the two girls in the room. I shut the door, turned around and made my way down the stairs. The way the wood creaked under my feet made me slightly uneasy, reminding me of old horror movies I had once watched. _Why are you thinking about that kind of stuff brain?_ I mentally scolded myself.

I arrived down the stairs and raised up my head to look around the room. It was dark, and quiet. A shadow appeared in the kitchen doorway, making me instantly jump in surprise. I scolded myself for not having my wand on me.

"Who is this?" I asked, suddenly worried someone might be breaking into the Weasley family.

"Shh, be quiet. People are sleeping," I immediately recognized the voice. _George_ … "What are you doing down here?"

"I uh, came for a glass of water," I whispered, unsure of our current situation. He nodded, turned around and walked back into the kitchen. I trailed behind him as he reached into one of the cupboards, pulled out a glass and filled it with tap water. He handed it to me once it was filled.

"Here."

"Thank you," I continued to whisper. George didn't answer; instead he walked straight past me ready to leave. I felt the sudden urge to draw him back.

"I don't need you to babysit me" I called out slightly louder than I should have, perfectly knowing that a simple ' _sorry'_ would have been a much better line.

He stopped. Just stood completely still.

"Why are you so scared that everyone is going to stab you in the back?" he asked, no even bothering to look at me.

I stared at his back. This question forced me to take a deep look inside my own mind to find the source of my troubles. I sighed, placing the glass of water on the table and running a hand through my hair.

"Because it always happens," George turned to face me now, eyes boring deep into mine even through the darkness. "Because I'm the daughter of two Gryffindors in Slytherin House. Because I watch it happen every single day. Because I know Slytherin House is closer to the reality of the world than any other house, in the end you either fight for what you want or get trampled by everyone else." I took a deep breath.

"I'm afraid," I suddenly admitted, surprising both George and myself. He took a step towards me but stopped when I continued to speak. "I'm afraid because I know that when we get back to Hogwarts I'm going to get bullied because I spoke to you, laughed with you and was just generally around you. I'm going to get bullied for having associated with you, and worst of all, I'm going to get bullied for caring about what you all think of me. And I'm afraid I won't be able to handle that on my own."

"You don't have to be on your own," George was centimeters away from me now and I could feel the heat radiating off of him. I had tears forming in the corners of my eyes from my own desperation, and I hated myself all the more for it.

"Oh yeah?" I tear dropped helplessly down my cheek. "And who's going to pick me up huh? You? Fred? Ginny? Now who would that help? Because it would certainly make my life all the more miserable." I was the truth and he knew it. We were in a vicious circle to which there was no escape but one: betrayal. I had understood this a while ago, but I think I hadn't quite been ready to admit it to myself. I was now, and it made everything so much _worse_.

"I wish I could help," George murmured.

"Why?" I wasn't quite sure of what was happening in this moment. George didn't seem like himself but then again, neither did I. I was too tired to try and change the situation, so I simply let it unfold, enjoying the lightheartedness feeling I got from pouring my guts out.

"Remember what you said, when you yelled at me in the bathroom?" he asked. I frowned. _Where did this come from?_ "You said I hated you."

There was a silence. I did say that, at least that was the feeling I had gotten from him initially but lately everything had seemed to collapse on itself and the lines were a lot more blurred than they once had been.

"You were right."

 _Ouch_ , that hurt a lot more than I had expected. I rolled my eyes, ready to forcefully shove him out of my way and escape this wretched room but before I could place a hand on him, he grabbed my wrist.

"I hate everything that makes you perfect because I can't help but think of you."

"W-what?"

"The way you walk confidently towards everyone, the way you look when you've got an idea on the back of your head. Your smile, your tears," he used his thumb to brush away a tear rolling down my cheek. "Your laugh, and bloody hell even your damn breakdowns." He paused, letting go of me now. "I hate all of these things because they keep reminding of how powerless I am with you."

I didn't know how to react to that. I wasn't prepared for it, I would never have been prepared for it. But there was this voice in the back of my head that was saying, ' _Life is made of moments. You have the power to choose them'_.

And so I did.

Without a word, I pulled onto the hem of George's shirt, letting myself fall into him. I placed a hand on the back of his neck; fingers playing with his hair and gently pulled his head to mine until our lift softly brushed against one another.

For a brief moment, I contemplated on the sweet release of anger, pain and tension. I let myself fall in the moment I had chosen and ignored everything else. There was no more Slytherin, no more Gryffindor, no more fear.

Just him and I.

Just the feeling of his warmth, the tingles his hands sent threw my spine when he placed his hands on my waist, and the feel of his lips against mine.

It was a sweet kiss, not that I had much experience to compare it to anything else. I was soft, gentle, like we were afraid of pushing the other too far out of our comfort zone. For the first time in my life, I felt content. It wasn't fireworks like Pansy had once explained, more like an overwhelming feeling of ease that calmed my soul.

And as soon as I felt the need for it to never end, it was over.

George put his forehead against mine, eyes shut, and we stayed like that for a moment of silence, both unsure of what to say.

"Hailey," he began in a soft murmur. "I can't promise we will find an answer. But I do promise to try."

My mouth suddenly let out the words my brain was forming, voice soft, almost childish.

"Until we find something, can you just kiss me again?"

He laughed.

"Yeah I can do that."


	17. Chapter 17

**Sorry for the delay everyone, health issues. No further words needed. Everything is fine now. Here's the chapter:**

I rang the doorbell of the ancient mansion before me. Every single muscle in my body was pulling me to turn around and run far, far away from here. Unfortunately, before my brain could match up my body the door was opened, revealing a small, hunched over house elf.

"I'm uh… Hailey," I informed, being as polite as I could. I never did know how to act around house elves. I always felt either too modest or too pompous, which made me overall awkward.

"The young master is waiting for you in the living room," the elf said with his old, rough voice. He turned to his side, motioning for me to enter the house. I stepped in, looking around to the high ceilings as the house elf closed the door behind me. "This way," he informed, moving slowly into the long corridor, meandering to the next room. This takes a lot loner than anticipating due to the old elf's low speed, allowing regret to flood through me with each step, making me more and more prone to running out.

"Hailey!" a voice called from a distance. I looked to the end of the large room and spotted Adrian sitting in one of the excessively large greenish couches, looking up from a book he held in his hands. I nodded towards him. "Glad you could make it. You're the first one here."

"Hm," I didn't answer. I spun on my heels, looking around the room. The walls were covered in old wallpaper, torn in some places and oaken shelves filled with books. There was a large wooden table in the middle of the room, enough to fit twelve people by the number of chairs. Further into the room were three couches, placed around a smaller coffee table on which was placed small bowls filled with snacks and unopened bottles of unknown liquid.

"The others will be here soon," Adrian informed me. "Please, make yourself at home."

The elf pulled onto my vest, making it drop off of my shoulders and walked off with it before I could even hush out a thank you. I turned back to face Adrian, a recognizable sly smirk on his face.

"What?" I asked, noticing he was staring.

"How's it been going?" he asked me. If I had been stupid or doe-eyed I would have probably believed it was a genuine display of concern for my well being.

"I manage," I smiled back, still evading his cold eyes. Something seemed different about him, almost off; but I didn't want to think about it too much.

"Any progress?" he instigated. _Ah, there we are_ , I thought, _that lasted a total of 15 seconds!_ I sighed. All forms of concern or affection were gone from this conversation. He was now just another member of the Slytherin House asking me about my job to steal some stupid Quidditch strategies.

"I live with the Weasley's, the strategies are put together by the captain, Oliver. I'm not sure you all comprehend the fact that these are two separate families," I answered quite harshly. Adrian's eyes narrowed, smirk almost vanishing but not quite. I think he was actually proud that I was standing up for myself right now.

"You think we're being mean," he said, placing the book in his hands on the couch. He walked around it, slowly, coming closer to my form. "But love we care about you, as much as you care about us. We're family right?"

"I guess."

"Yeah," he assured, standing right in front of me now. I wasn't quite sure was he was getting at, but he was making me slightly uncomfortable. "That's why Marcus is pushing you a little hard, he just wants you to prove that. That you actually think of us as family." He paused. "I have missed you, you know? Not seeing you everyday it's like torture," he arms snaked around to my hips, pulling me flush against him. I swallowed hard.

"What are you doing?" I managed to stutter out, eyes wide.

"Whatever do you mean? I'm just showing you how much I've missed you," he answered, smirking. He leaned in towards me and I didn't know how to get out of this particular situation. The next words I uttered left my lips without my control.

"I kissed George Wealsey."

Adrian stopped his motion and stepped away from me, eyes locked into mine. His brows furrowed for a second before he smiled again, seemingly genuinely happy this time.

"Trying on a new approach?"

"Something like that," I answered, clearing my throat.

"Good! Marcus will be glad to hear it!"

"That's just the thing, I don't think you should tell him," I interrupted quickly, fingers playing with the hem of my shirt. Adrian frowned once more.

"Why not? It's not like you actually care for the Weasley boy is it?"

"Of course not," I smiled and sat on the armrest of one of the large couches. "I just wouldn't want Marcus to think that in case my scheme happens to fail."

"And why would it fail?" Adrian was testing me now.

"Fred."

"I thought you kissed George," confusion was evident in his voice. I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose.

"I did, but Fred is more reluctant to trust me."

"Ah," Adrian casually vaulted onto one of the sofas and put both his feet on it. "Alright then, I won't tell Marcus."

"Thank you."

Our conversation seemed to have ended there, but Adrian's very constant stare told me otherwise. I turned my head to look at him and raised a brow questioningly. "Yes?"

"You know what Hailey? Mischievous works on you, it gives you this," he thought about his words. "Sexy feeling."

It was my turn to frown now. Adrian laughed at what I could only guess was my reaction of his own stupidity.

"You're weird."

"I don't know whether I'm jealous or disappointed," he said, looking to the ceiling. "I'm sure you and I would have made a brilliant couple!"

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that," I answered, eyes running around the room anywhere but on Adrian, who's conversation was now boring me. But as the good host he is, he quickly changed that!

"Harsh Hailey!" he feigned to be hurt, placing a hand on his heart. "Why would you ever say something like that?"

"Well, you're the one who said you'd never go out with anyone whom wasn't from a pure Slytherin family!"

"Hm," Adrian seemed to think. "Perhaps, but I've had a change of heart!"

"That so?" There he was again, being off putting. He had this sort of aura around him, aura that seemed cold and dark.

"Yes. I've realized something!"

"And what would that be?" Every muscle in my body was pulling in the opposite direction to Marcus, but he had gotten me into a trance like state, and I just wanted to get to the bottom of his mind, to understand what it was that was happening around me.

"When we get out of Hogwarts, it won't matter whether we're Slytherin, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff or even Ravenclaw!"

"What will matter then?"

"Which side you're on."

"Side?"

"Well yes Hailey, the –"

Before he could finish his sentence, the old house elf returned in the room, announcing new guests. I turned to see the latter and smiled when Terence entered the room. I hurried to his side to give him a long hug. I had missed Terence, more than I would have liked to admit, and this hug felt a lot more genuine than an entire conversation with Adrian.

Marcus followed suit and pulled me away from Higgs when he arrived at my side.

"Well hello there princess," he kissed my cheek. I forced a smile to form on my lips and acknowledged him with a nod.

Montague was next to enter the scene, flipping his head my way and uttering something along the lines of: "How's your back?" I gritted my teeth, thinking about all the spells I could use to send him flying into one of the walls right now but decided to go against my instincts. I didn't quite want to get kicked out of Hogwarts just yet – but boy was it tempting.

As all other official members of the Slytherin Quidditch team entered the room, Adrian offered for us to take place around the table. Terence stayed by my side, which provided a lot of comfort compared the same dark and cold aura that Marcus dispelled on my other side.

I just sat there, uncomfortable and silent for most of the time whilst they discussed further trainings and Quidditch games, along with some other things I had no need to participate in.

Marcus brought up the plan that included me once or twice, but didn't ask any questions or make any other remarks. It seemed he was letting me deal with it for once.

But during the entire time, I felt as though something had changed amongst my House mates, something evil had fallen above them and I wasn't quite sure what.

I tried to leave discreetly when the important discussion was over, asking the house elf for my coat and waiting by the door but unfortunately I hadn't been as stealthy as I had originally thought.

"Leaving so soon princess?"

"I have to get back, Mrs Weasley will be worried," I answered, turning over to the black haired boy.

"Oh, well we wouldn't want o worry her now would we?" he smiled, tucking a strand of loose hair behind my ear. I nodded quickly.

"Hailey," he said my name softly, "How are things going?"

"If you're talking about the strats, I'm working on it!"

"No, no," Marcus shook hos head. "I mean you. How are _you_? You seemed a bit off in there."

"Well," I though about my words. "I just don't understand why you make me come to these, it's not like I'm much use."

"Well didn't you want to join the Quidditch team?" he asked, feigning surprise at my answer. "I'm letting you get a head start." _Yeah, like you'd ever let a girl on the team_ , I huffed in my head.

"Thanks," I faked a smile. "I'm sorry I guess I'm just distracted."

"Don't straign yourself too much alright? We still want you in tip top shape!"

"Hm," I agreed, putting on my coat and turning towards the large wooden doors. The small elf opened them for me and I took a step outside. But before I could leave, I felt obligated to turn back to Marcus.

"Hey, are _you_ alright?"

"Of course, why do you ask?" he raised a brow. I shook my head.

"I don't know, something just seemed off inside. And Adrian was speaking about choosing sides or something, I didn't quite understand."

Marcus's features went hard when I said that, but he quickly shook it off.

"Ah," he cleared his throat. "Adrian's an idiot who should learn to keep his mouth shut. Don' worry about it princess, it has nothing to do with you! You just concentrated on your job alright?"

I nodded and waved him goodbye before leaving.

All of this seemed too much like a huge set up, too much like a trap wrapped up in a nice present wrapping with a ribbon on top. Every little thing they said, every smile seemed faker by the second and I knew I was soon going to be in the heap of trouble Terence was talking about, unless I could find a solution… or unless I did what was asked of me.

And it is in that moment I realized that what I had been asked to do was child's play compared to what the future would hold. All of this bickering, mocking and bullying was such a tiny part of a much bigger plan and sooner or later there would be a divide. I just hoped I would indeed be able to pick which side I wanted to be on.

But for now, if I wanted to be at peace, I only had one job to do: **obey Marcus Flint**.


	18. Chapter 18

I returned just in time for supper, and was greeted by a very happy Mr. Weasley.

"Hailey! Good to have you home!" he pulled me inside the house and sat me down beside his other children. "How was your day?"

"Good, I suppose," I stuttered out. I didn't see Mr. Weasley too often; he was either at work or out to do more work. From the looks of it, the ministry was busy with something that must have been important, but not too important seeing as my parents were on a vacation seeing goddamn dragons.

"I'm glad to hear it!" He smiled, serving himself from one of the plates Mrs. Weasley had placed upon the table.

"Where have you been dear?" she asked me, finally setting herself down after wiping her hands on the front of her squirt.

"Yeah Hailey, where were you?" Fred chimed in, a wicked smile on his lips. I looked at him with furrowed brows before turning back to answer Mrs. Weasley.

"I went to see some of my… friends," somehow that word felt wrong to be used whilst thinking of the rest of the Slytherin Quidditch team. Mr. and Mrs. both smiled in acknowledgment and returned to their plates. I continued to serve myself of mashed potatoes, thinking we would have a calm almost 'family' like dinner. Of course, I couldn't have been more wrong.

"Did this visit have anything to do with the secret reunion Marcus asked you to attend in the last letter he sent you?" Fred asked innocently. I almost chocked on my fork as he pronounced the last words of his sentence.

"How do you know that?" my eyes darted towards Fred and I suddenly noticed how guilty I sounded. I shouldn't have been, I hadn't done anything against them… yet. "Did you go through my mail?" was my next question. This time I rose to my feet, hands steadily on the diner table.

"No, it was just lying there," Fred huffed.

"No, it was not," I corrected him, emphasizing every word. "It was hidden under my pillow!"

"Well why was it hidden huh?" It was Ron's turn to speak now, and I was surprised by his accusatory tone. I stared at him like a dear in the headlights for a couple seconds before realizing what had happened. Ron had been on his brother's side the entire time, even when I thought he was neutral. I scoffed loudly.

"Darn it! What the hell is wrong with you people? This is goddamn bullying!" I stepped over the wooden bench I was sitting on and walked out of the house quickly. In my rage, I couldn't hear what was going on behind me, but I leaned in an ear just long enough to hear the boys, including George for some reason getting in trouble with their parents.

"Why are you always taking her side?" Fred whined. "Aren't you our mother?"

"And Hailey is our guest!" I heard Mr. Weasley boom back. I had never heard him being angry, and to be honest I never wanted to hear it again.

I could have continued to listen, but I truly did not want to stray from my path of rage. I climbed the stairs four by four and hurried into Ginny's room, throwing random items of clothing into a black backpack Ginny had lying around. I'm sure she won't mind me using it. Once finished, I turned back towards the desk and grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill, writing quickly, my hand shaking. I wrote down the address, rolled the parchment up and sealed it before almost throwing it at my owl, begging it to hurry.

"Hailey," a voice called behind me. I turned towards the door, my eyes setting onto my favorite of the Weasley twins.

"This isn't a good time George," I informed him. He shook his head.

"I think this is the best time actually," he corrected me and motioned for me to come closer, which I immediately did. He opened his arms for me and I fell into his embrace. I rested my head on his chest as he held me close and forced myself not to sob.

"I didn't do anything," I whispered lowly. "I didn't hide it from you, I hid it from myself."

"I know," George passed a hand through my hair, reassuring me. It felt nice, being so close to him again and images from our last encounter flooded my mind. For a brief second I wanted to desperately to push my lips back onto his, to taste him again and have him throw all my troubles away. Still, my mouth spoke on it's own:

"About the other night…"

"We don't have to talk about it," he assured, pulling back slightly so he could look at me in the eyes. "Neither do we have to talk about this," he continued, leaning in ever so slowly. I grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him to me, closing the gap between us.

My stomach filled with butterflies again, and I felt relieved. It was a brief kiss, ever so soft but the rumbling down the stairs informed us of our need to pull apart. I was going to step away from him and back into Ginny's room but he pulled me back into our previous hug.

"Things will get better," he whispered into my ear. I didn't believe him but I didn't bother saying it out loud, that wouldn't help anybody. After a long couple of seconds, he released his hold on me and I took it as my leave. Pulling away from him, I saw Fred at the top of the stairs, staring us down. George turned back to his brother and stared him down.

"What was that about?" Fred asked, staring at the both of us now. I took it as the chance for me to leave without being aggressively attacked by the second twin and moved back into the shadows of Ginny's room.

"Why are you being like this?" George asked his brother.

"She's lying to us!"

"No she's not! You're just too stuck up to see that she's actually a good person!" George sounded exasperated. "You're always complaining that the Slytherins are stuck up brats whom push everyone else away. Well maybe Hailey is more of a Gryffindor than you are."

I was behind the door, holding my breath as I realized the trouble I had caused, and the entry point to succeeding my task: separate the Weasley twins.

 **By the way, when this is over I might try to write a Fred Weasley story. This is the prologue: Give it a look if you can :) —** story/9372202/The-Deal-Fred-Weasley-Story


	19. Chapter 19

**Sorry about that, chapter 19 and 20 ended up with coding, which is weird. Thank you to the guest that made me notice that! Here they are (normal I hope) ^^**

* * *

I woke up confused as to where I was and what time it was. Looking out the window of the dim lit room I quickly realized it was still night. Ginny was sleeping soundly in her bed as I gathered my thoughts and sat up in my bed. I yawned silently, stretching my arms over my head.

Quickly, I thought about getting back into bed and trying to fall back into slumber, but the dryness of my mouth forced me to my feet. I moved slowly, holding my arms straight in front of me from fear of bumping into things. Slowly I reached the creaking door, and tried my best to be as silent as possible. Moving through the corridor I quickly made my way down the stairs, cursing under my breath at every sound the old wooden stairs made as I stepped onto them. When I reached the ground floor, I allowed myself to move around faster, quickly reaching the kitchen and grabbing a glass, filling it with water from the tap.

"We have to stop meeting like this."

The voice surprised me so much I almost spit out my water.

"Sexy," George laughed. I playfully hit his arm.

"Don't do that you idiot!"

"Shh, you'll wake up the others."

I finished my water and place the empty glass in the sink.

"I'm going to go back to bed," I tell him. He frowns.

"Already?"

"Well yeah." I began walking away when George's voice stopped me in my tracks.

"Are you okay?"

That took me off guard. Out of the things he could have asked me, this wasn't the one that would have first popped into my head. Why? Well because the answer was already so clear. No, I wasn't okay. However for some reason that's not the answer I decided to give him.

"Sure," I smiled. George frowned at that. He walked towards me and placed both hands on the sides of my arms. I sighed at this. "No."

"It's going to get better."

"You always say that… but it doesn't. And I don't think it will." There was a silence between the both of us before I continued. "You brother really hates me huh?"

"He just doesn't know what you're like."

"I think he does, but he decides to hate me anyways," I simply responded, looking away from him.

"It's not going to get better if you make him out to be the villain as well," George complained. I frowned. It's not like I had done anything wrong, yet, and still he hated me. In my mind, he was the villain, and unless he behavior changed, this idea would slowly be inked into the back of my head. I didn't respond. I had nothing more to say about this. George seemed to understand my frustration, but what he said next didn't help it in any way.

"He just doesn't know you like I do." I frowned at this. Sure, him and I got along much better than with Fred but it's not like he knew my entre life story. I wouldn't say sharing a couple kisses was equivalent to 'knowing someone'.

"And how's that? Do you know me any more than he does?" I regretted it as soon as the words left my mouth.

"You're right. I'm sorry," George apologized. "I just thought we had something." He looked hurt, and I hated myself for that, but somehow I had already gone too far. This whole thing was too heavy on my shoulders and I just needed to blow off some steam.

"Yeah, about that…" I begun, unsure of what I was going to say next. Luckily, or rather unfortunately, George cut me off.

"We don't have to do this now. It doesn't matter."

"I-" but before I was able to say anything, he was walking out of the kitchen back towards the darkness of the living room. I knew I should have gone after him, apologized and explained what I was going through. He was the one by my side, the one supporting me when Fred was constantly bringing me down. He made me feel better in times of need and was the first person I felt somewhat comfortable with. But I just watched as he walked away and stayed silent when I should have spoken up.

In truth, I was weak and I hated myself for that.


	20. Chapter 20

I barely had the time to retreat my hand from the rope attached to the doorbell that the large wooden doors swung open and I was pulled into a firm embrace.

"Hailey!"

"H-hi Terence," I tried to utter out, having difficulty breathing whilst being so tight against him. "C-can't breathe."

"Sorry," he apologized quickly, pulling away from me and rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm just really happy to see you." I smiled at this, just now realizing how happy I was to see him as well. Without quite thinking straight, I simply pulled him back into my arms from a slightly softer embrace.

"I missed you too."

We stayed in the doorway for a long while before our normal selves returned from the darkness of our minds. We pulled away slowly and looked at one another, both with a stupid grin on our faces.

"Hum, please, come in," he moved out of the way and showed me in. I trotted behind him, removing my coat in the process and placing it on the back of an empty chair in the main living area.

"How uhm," Terence didn't seem sure of what he was saying. "How have you been doing?"

I bit my lip.

"You mean other than dealing with harassment from Marcus and the rest? I guess I'm okay."

"I'm sorry." I knew he was sincere. If there was one Slytherin out there who had to be trusted it was Terence Higgs. That boy didn't have an ounce of mischief in him. He wanted to play by the rules and tell the truth, he wanted to be good; it's too bad his wishes collided with the rest of the team's. Deep down I thought about how hard it must have been for him too. Not because of the abuse but just because he would have had to pretend to be someone he isn't to play Quidditch.

Whilst thinking, we absentmindedly moved towards the couch were we both sat down, facing one another. When I was younger I would come here a lot. Terence and I had always been friends, since the day we first met. That day was both one of the best and worst days of my life. It was also the day I met Marcus Flint.

"So, how are the Weasley's?"

"Is that an actual question?" I asked, raising a brow. I'm sure Terence was polite enough to ask how there were but somehow it seemed off.

"I guess not huh? Are they treating you okay?"

"Yes… No. It's complicated." I bit my lip, unsure of how to explain my current living situation. The sentence going through my head was somewhere along _'I live with a pair of morons who can't decide whether they like me or not.'_

"How so?"

Of course he had to ask that.

"They don't trust me," I stated, my mind adding ' _rightfully so'_. "Fred believes I'm out to get him or something, and George…" I trailed off. Terence gave me a look.

"George what?"

"I don't know, we… uhm…"

"Kissed?" I felt my eyes go wide for a second whilst Terence laughed. "Adrian told me. He told everyone actually."

"That little ass-"

"Marcus was glad to hear it, he said that might come in handy for you." Terence stopped when he saw the annoyed look in my eyes. "I have a feeling that's not a good thing."

"He had promised he wouldn't tell!" I whined, passing a hand through my hair and huffing quite loudly. Terence looked at me in silence. "I should have known…"

"Hailey this is a good thing!" he tried to reassure me. "With one of the Weasleys in your pocket you can do what Marcus wants even more easily right?"

"No!" I yelled at him. "I can't. I can't okay? It's not like that, it's not that simple."

"You like him."

My heart stopped. _What?_

"Hailey."

I suddenly felt my palms getting sweaty and my mind racing.

"I…uh…I don't know… I guess, maybe."

"Hailey."

"We got in a fight yesterday. I don't even know if it's a real fight, I don't even know what I'm doing!"

"Hey, hey!" Terence jumped to his feet and hurried to my side of the couch, kneeling in front of me and placing a hand on my cheek. "I'm sorry, I didn't think you'd be so emotional about it."

I sniffed the air, holding back tears of pure anger and annoyance. I couldn't do this anymore.

"I can't do it Ter," a tear fell down my cheek. "I tried. I really tried but I'm not like them, I can't do it. I just can't okay?"

Terence nodded at my words and just listened to me rant for a little while. He stayed silent until I was done, and allowed me a couple minutes to steady my breathing.

"So you do like him," he simply said.

"Is that a problem?"

"Uhm, no, not at all!" He quickly moved away from me and stood back up. "I mean, you're a big girl, you can do whatever you want right? I just… I just want what's best for you, because you're my friend, you know?"

"Terence, are you okay?" It almost seemed like my 'sort of' panic attack had been moved to him. I also rose to my feet just to check on him, looking him in the eyes. _Wait, is he blushing?_

"Terence?"

"I'm on you side, " he collected his breathing. "Whatever you decide to do, I'm on your side. I just hope you make the best decision for yourself. I don't want you to get hurt."

I smiled and pulled him into a hug. He kissed the top of my head and rested his chin on it I hushed a 'thank you' to which he only hummed. And suddenly, I didn't feel so alone anymore. Maybe none of my problems were fixed, but I felt better than I had in a long time.

"I'll give you my advice okay? Just do what Marcus wants, even if it's hard. This is just a summer, whereas school, is still going to last a couple years. Plus I wouldn't want to pretend like we're not friends anymore."

"Yeah, you'd miss me too much," I joked at Terence's explanation. He laughed and nodded simply. I knew he was right. Confronting the Wealsey twins was going to be difficult, and getting hate from the entire Quidditch team would be horrible, but maybe it wasn't worse than dealing with an angry Marcus Flint. I thought about my options and in this moment, only one thing was clear: I was in way too deep to find a viable solution.


End file.
